A Choice of Faults: The Trilogy
by Noon30ish
Summary: A missing tooth, a babysitter, some misguided behavior. Throw in a pan, add some fire, and what do you get? Literally - a poorly conceived cannibalistic side dish. In terms of this story - a search for the truth that opens up all kinds of sore wounds. Rated T for injury, trauma, and abuse. A Choice of Faults: Ch.1-35. A Change of Fates: Ch.37-TBD. A Carnage of Fools: TBD.
1. A Stranger Nightmare

**Chapter 1** \- _A Stranger Nightmare  
_

* * *

There was a boy. His hair was dark and messy. His brown eyes reflected everything with a sense of freedom and excitement. The warmth they evoked spread to everyone who met him. He smiled and ran without thinking that anything bad could happen. He was barefoot and carefree.

The air was fresh and the trees were green. The water was clear and refreshing and an excellent weapon for splashing unsuspecting children. Holding his breath and swimming through the depths, he became as silent as a deer in the woods and snuck up to the kids he was taking care of while the adults worked. Without warning, he jumped up and waves of summer water crashed into the kids, causing a friendly frenzy. Then the colors of the trees changed and he became more daring. Hanging from the limb with perfect ease, he waited until they came nearby. He jumped from the tree to prank the little kids and filled his heart with content as they shrieked and laughed at his foolishness. The wind brought the white gleam of snow and he began to toss snowballs at the kids. They would start little wars without the pain and suffering that comes with true war. There was too much fun to be had before the kids had to grow up.

There was one girl, however, to whom he was especially close. She followed him everywhere, laughed with him, and asked him thousands of questions. He would usually answer, but when he didn't, he ran, making her chase him. Then he spun and fell to the ground, laughing breathlessly as he catapulted the little girl high in the air. She landed in his arms with equally breathless giggles.

On the way home one day, he pet her head as she pouted. Going home meant leaving fun behind. He assured her that they would have fun again tomorrow.

"Will we go skating again tomorrow?" Their voices faded in and out, filtered by hundreds of bare tree branches.

"Sure." He was taken aback. "I thought you didn't like skating?"

"If none of the other kids are around to laugh at me, then maybe I'll like it."

His light laughter filled the air. He said something that was filtered by white noise.

"And─" her soft voice cut out momentarily, "─too?" Static began to distort the surroundings.

The boy looked back to an unknown focal point questioningly. "Perhaps," he answered tentatively, "but head on home. I'll be there soon, promise."

But time skipped and he fell, looking at the girl's fear-ridden face one last time. This time, he didn't land in the snow. His breath caught and his limbs were numb with shock, making it impossible to swim back to the surface. The water surrounded every inch of him and began to fill his mouth and nose and stream around his fingers and drench his clothes. He became heavier and weaker with every passing second. The little girl helplessly screamed his name. His vision and his memories faded as the ice covered the surface once more. He was nothing more than a disturbance to nature's course.

As he stilled, a sound rang through the water. _Beep, beep, beep!_ Annoyed, he struggled to cover his ears. _Beep, beep, beep! _With impatience and cold water that filled his lungs, he screamed. _Beep, beep, beep!_

_Beep, beep, beep!_

The girl woke up with a start, gasping and coughing. In her desperation, she ripped off the blanket and threw it at the abomination. She threw her hands over her ears and tried to find something to stare at for longer than a second. The panic swept through her as if she were the one who drowned. Her eyes were straining to remain one color, as the greens and yellows danced between confusion and insanity. Her coughing became more violent the more that she tried to calm down. Eventually, she lay herself down and hugged her knees to her chest and let the panic blow over. Try as hard as she could to force the swelling emotions out, she could not sob. Time halted and taunted her relentlessly.

When her heart began to slow, she exhaled and stood up slowly from the low bed. She walked over to the lumped mass of blanket and nightstand and picked up the former. The ringing became louder and then was silenced as she clicked the alarm off.

Rubbing her arms, she turned and looked out the window above the bed. Snow had fallen again. She wished it would melt away already, it was almost Easter. She frowned and looked at the time. It was already past noon, but she felt like she hadn't slept at all the night before. The white snow reminded her of the nightmare and she turned away bitterly. Shivering, not because of the cold, she picked up and tossed the blanket back on the bed and slumped down to the floor. She held her head in her left hand and stared at her right. Studying her fingers, she noticed that her fingerprints had pruned, as if she had spent too long in the bath. Furrowing her brows, she sprung up and fell backwards onto the bed with her arms spread out.

"I should stop watching bad TV so late at night," she laughed nervously, trying to shake off the episode.

In reality, bad TV probably had little to do with the present matter. It may have been the shot of tequila, but it wasn't bad TV. For all it was worth, at least she wasn't in hysterics anymore. A panic attack like that hadn't happened in years, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this one was different from the others. The others only elevated her heart to the point where she thought she would die and then slow back down, all the while questioning her sanity. This one had given her a lasting fear that permeated the entire room in a foul stench. Or maybe she needed a shower. Holding her arm above her head, she turned her head and sniffed her armpit. There was no detectable odor, so she laughed at herself and shook her head. _I'm going crazy, that's all, _she thought exasperatedly. She sighed and tried to relax, closing her eyes.

_Beep, beep, beep!_

The girl gasped with surprise and stared at the alarm clock. She thought she had turned off the alarm. This time, she reached over and unplugged the damn thing.

But it wouldn't stop beeping.

Realization dawned on her and she shook her head. "What do you want?"

The ringing ceased and a voice replaced it. "I have another job for you," said a voice that crackled through the alarm clock.

"It's been a while," she commented disappointedly. "I thought I was finally off the hook."

"It's nearly time," the voice persisted, "and I need your help to complete the preparations."

The girl stretched and yawned. It was always nearly time for him. "Look, I understand that you must be a busy guy, but I thought you told me I was free to go. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to get on with that. A deal's a deal."

The alarm clock gave a loud ring and the girl shrieked, slapping the alarm clock off the stand and sending the thing across the room. "Damn it, Pitch!"

"I've given you plenty of time to be free! I told you," the voice growled before returning to a softer tone, "I would call on you if I needed you. I need you now."

"Aww," the girl crooned, unaffected by his dark demeanor. "I didn't know you felt that way. Gee, I almost felt bad."

The alarm rang louder but she didn't shriek. Instead, she walked up to the plastic timekeeper and stomped on it with her bare foot. The piece smoldered and smoked underneath as she smiled in triumph. A small laugh escaped her lips.

But the room became darker and she turned toward the window. Staring at her through the dirty glass was an unruly shadow with bright yellow eyes.

"Next time," the shadow murmured, "use that power on the jobs that I give you."

"Next time," the girl retorted, "let a girl get some damn sleep!"

"My enemies are down on their knees and you want to take a nap?!" the shadow boomed, casting dark specks of sand through the cracks in the glass.

Without flinching, the girl replied, "If they are almost finished, then you don't need my help!"

"Cinder! Listen to me when I order you!" The shadow began to push against the glass, seeping through the cracks.

Fuming with anger, the girl named Cinder held up her hands to the glass and focused. Almost instantly, the shadow dissipated when flames licked at the glass with intense heat.

"Sorry, Pitch. Back off my case and do it yourself."

Extinguishing her fire, she felt amazed and out of breath. It was true that he had given her _some_ time to be free. It had been nearly a month since he had called on her and ordered her to do his bidding. And she had no way to repel against his will when he contracted her. Any task he asked of her would be done without hesitation; that's what made her scarily useful. She didn't mind at first because it was a good way to pay him back for his kindness, all those years ago. But he said the contract was voided a month ago, and it felt good to be in control again. She didn't feel the need to listen to him anymore.

She walked over to the mirror to see the damage. Her red hair was frizzy and unkempt, but it was nothing that a hot shower couldn't fix. Staring carefully, she checked to see if her eyes had changed again. This time they stayed green. Her night clothes, which hung loosely off her body, were bare but adequate since she was never cold. A black scar that ran underneath her left clavicle was visible through the thin clothing. Content, she rolled her shoulders and heard them crack. _Motel beds are the worst, _she decided as she walked toward the bathroom. _One last free shower before I check out, I guess._

Steam spilled over and around the shower curtain and filled the room with a lazy haze. Humming to herself, Cinder carefully went over the details of her dream. She was sure she had never seen the boy before in her hundreds of years of life. Yet, he seemed so familiar to her; an aching sort of familiar that confused words and thoughts and focused with all its might on breaking down the person who bore those thoughts. It frustrated her so much that she accidentally burned through the soap that she was holding. Calming down, she put the experience in the back of her mind and continued to hum.

Cinder didn't hear from Pitch again until four years had passed.

* * *

"Cinder, can you hear me?"

Sitting on a public bus with her head hung low, Cinder peeked around furtively. She didn't want to look crazy, but then she realized she was the only other person on the bus beside the driver. Good thing, too, because she was amazingly hung over. Despite the raging headache, she took a chance.

Turning to face the window, she murmured, "It's been a long time. Did you die again or something?"

"Is that how you greet an old," there was a sinister pause, "acquaintance?" The last word was thickly layered with venom.

"Miss you, too," Cinder blinked, apparently unfazed. The world outside was rainy and dull, but at least it wasn't snowing. People were walking with umbrellas close to their faces as wind spattered droplets everywhere that they could go. The pane of glass was misted and dotted with crystal clear prickles of water. Some were trailing, racing each other down to the sill. Others were content to stay as they were, in their captive environment against the wind caused by the bus's forward momentum. She felt much the same; a rock being beat against by a stream. She was resilient, but not indefinite. She knew he was going to come for her eventually. "Something happen?"

"More like I have something for you to do," the voice rasped.

"Well, Pitch," Cinder started, "if you had waited as long as this, the first time you asked me to do something after setting me free, I might have been more compliant."

"Silence!" Then Pitch hesitated. "I have lost a lot of my power, and I need to feed off some fear. Can you do that for me?"

Cinder was shocked and confused. Had her refusal to his plea led to this? "Why didn't you ask me this sooner? If you were in danger I could have─"

"As I have said," Pitch repeated, "I lost a lot of power, and it's taken a lot just to communicate with you." His voice was starting to fade out.

Cinder bit her lip in concentration. Her contract was over and she didn't owe this guy anything anymore. He saved her, sure, but she had already repaid him with her service. She was free now. And yet she said thanks by backing off on him when he needed her.

Cinder let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Okay, fair enough. What do you need me to do?"

Her eyes flickered yellow and glowed, absorbing the information she received.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, everybody! This is my first ROTG FanFic. I promise the chapters won't be awfully short like this one; most will be around 4000-6000 words after the fifth chapter or so (I have a lot of it already written, but I'll take suggestions). ****So please, read and tell me what you think! I'd love to hear it!**

**Updates are weekly, on either Fridays or Saturdays!**


	2. Jack's Return

**A/N: This is just a heads up. POVs will be both Jack and Cinder, but never in the same chapter to avoid confusion. Also, for the purpose of the story, I've given Jack's sister the name Sophie as well. She is briefly mentioned here but she will be more important later on. Please read and review and above all, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2** \- _Jack's Return_

* * *

"Happy New Years, everyone!" Tooth's cheery voice rang throughout the halls at the North Pole.

The Sandman clapped his hands and cheered a silent, pictorial celebration. Bunny shouted agreement, tossing his boomerang in the air and catching it again without skipping a beat. North hollered and waved his cutlasses around the table, causing Bunny to lean back out of fear for his throat. Jack laughed and tilted North's cutlass with his staff away from Bunny.

"Happy New Years to you, too, Tooth," Jack replied. Tooth swooned visibly. Baby Tooth fluttered against Jack's cheek and snuggled into his hood, sighing with content.

"Ah," North interrupted, "but real reason we are here because with New Year comes new plans, yes? Everybody have plans for year? Bunny?"

This is the part where Jack began to space out. Every year the Guardians met to discuss what their new ideas were and how they would go about them. But the thing is, every year it was the same thing: agendas, deadlines, gimmicks. Jack grimaced inwardly and lay back with his hands behind his head. He never had anything to bring to the table these past four years because all he had to do was have fun. That was his center, wasn't it? He thought that he wasn't going to be subjected to all of this adult-like planning. Unfortunately, he wasn't about to skirt around his Guardian duties so easily. They always called him out.

Sandy yanked on Jack's sleeve, indicating with his dream sand that it was Jack's turn. Jack came back to reality with a quick shake of the head.

"Welcome back, Frostbite." Bunny feigned a cheerful greeting. "Care to tell us what you'll be doin' with that ice-makin' stick of yours _this_ year?"

Jack thought about saying he'd hit Bunny with it, and had the words formed on his lips, but figured he might as well get this over with.

"Oh, you know," Jack started smoothly, "freeze things, make children miss school to have snowball fights, shoot ice beams at people─"

North cleared his throat, signaling to Jack that he was starting to get off topic.

"─And bring joy to children," Jack tacked onto the ending. "You don't mind if I get to doing that, do you?" Jack gestured towards the window near the top of the high ceiling. That was his usual entrance now that he didn't have to fight yetis in order to see North.

"If you must," North put his hand to his head, disapprovingly. "Someday you must take dis seriously, Jack."

"Not anytime soon," Jack promised.

North laughed. "Fair enough, Frost! Now go! Go!" He laughed heartily.

Baby Tooth sighed sadly and rubbed her head against Jack's cheek before fluttering back to Tooth. Jack smiled and waved, to which both Tooth and Baby Tooth fluttered. It was always so sweet of them to take such an interest, and Jack promised to himself that he had to visit them at the Tooth Palace soon. He knew Tooth enjoyed the company enough to take the occasional break. Perhaps she enjoyed it a little too much, but Jack didn't mind. He entertained the thought with a smirk and jumped toward the window like he was made of air.

After Jack had flown out the window, Bunny exhaled loudly. "That ice-brain doesn't take anything seriously! He never has and never will! Why'd we make him a Guardian, anyway?"

Tooth swatted Bunny with her wing, clearly offended by the statement. "If it wasn't for Jack, we'd have been destroyed by Pitch. And Jack helped us become closer to the children again. You remember, don't you, Bunny?"

Bunny rolled his eyes in agreement and changed the conversation. "So do you have any new choppahs, Tooth?"

Everyone except Tooth immediately wished that Bunny hadn't asked.

* * *

Jack thought about going farther south to mess with southerners' minds by bringing them masses of snow, but then he passed by Burgess. Stopping himself in midair, he couldn't resist peering down. Immediately, he saw the pond of so many memories and events, and there were dots swirling around on its surface. Hopeful and curious, Jack lowered himself down to take a closer look.

Jack landed at the pond in Burgess with little sound. He snuck over behind a tree that had fallen over due to one of his latest ice storms. He felt proud of his handiwork and smirked as he peeked over the frozen bark. He had been right.

Jamie and his friends were playing an impromptu ice hockey game with Cupcake as the goalie. She fit that role well, Jack noted. She had grown in the past four years. She was no longer the quiet, angry 10-year-old that all of the other kids were afraid of scaring. Instead, she was equally scary, but not in a bullying way. Her muscles were defined underneath her slim workout pullover and her short spiky hair moved without getting in her face. The twins were tall and lanky, easily towering over the other kids. Monty had ditched the glasses and braces and traded them for contacts and very straight, white teeth. _Tooth would be gawking over them if she were here,_ Jack mused, a smile curling on his lips. Pippa had also grown up nicely. She had grown out her hair, so now it was a long, wavy brown that was tucked away in her jacket, although strands flew out occasionally during play. She was noticeably a woman now, and Jack could tell Jamie thought so, too. Jamie was leading the makeshift puck toward the goal, his mop top hair slicked back by the wind. Grinning, Jack saw that Jamie no longer had the tooth gap in the front. Jamie glided past Pippa and passed her the puck willingly when she asked.

But then Jamie saw someone past the goal, and he smiled wider, forgetting about his forward momentum.

"Jack!" Jamie stood stock still in amazement. It had been four years since Jamie had last seen Jack, and he hadn't aged at all.

"Hey, kiddo!" Jack jumped from behind the log and crashed into Jamie in a huge, heartwarming hug that had them toppling onto the ice. It had been four years since Jack had seen Jamie, and Jack missed him. "You've gotten so old!"

"You're the one with─"

All of the other kids drowned out the last Jamie's response as they crowded Jack with hugs and questions galore. Jack loved this part of his job most of all. The kids who could see him would always want him to stop and play, and he readily agreed. After three hundred years of not being seen, this was the greatest thing in the world. His happiness beamed every time a kid muttered his name in surprise from inside their rooms. His ice powers increased whenever a child asked him to make a snow sculpture out of thin air or build a snowman with them. Their laughter became his, and he thrived. This was what being a Guardian was supposed to be, not all of those silly, meaningless meetings that kept him cooped up inside a disgustingly warm environment. Why do that when he could be flying in the bitingly cold breeze, gifting snow days to anyone who saw him?

Then he drowned them out and thought for a second. They were all four years older, in their teens. Were they still young enough to believe? Clearly, he decided, and let the thought slide from his mind.

"So," he started when they had all calmed down, "who wants to be on my team?"

A large chorus of I-do's rang throughout the crowd. Jack looked for Jamie amongst them, but he was missing. Confused, he turned around and looked at the log he was hiding behind earlier. Ducking out of the way of a snowball just in time, he heard Jamie's disappointment as he stomped on the log. Jack laughed and hurled an instant snowball back at Jamie, who only ducked partly and got hit in the arm.

"I guess that's make you the opposing captain," Jack laughed.

"I'll get you, Jack!" Jamie hollered with another snowball already in his hand. Jack had taught him well. "Get ready for this one!"

Jack was about to fly up when the twins held his feet in place, grinning mischievously. Jamie's snowball hit him square in the stomach, making him gasp in surprise.

"So that's how it is," Jack surmised craftily. Conjuring up more snow, he blanketed a wide area around them, making high walls that encapsulated a section of ice, forest, and rock face. There were fallen trees and larger snow piles that were turned into hideouts and cover. A battle was about to begin. "No one can pass those barriers or their team loses!"

This fight was far more hectic than their past snowball fights, four years ago. Jack found that with their four years of growth came incredible skills with the snowball. The twins, Monty, and Jamie were on one team, and Jack had Pippa and Cupcake. This was still a little less than fair, because Cupcake was immensely strong and Jack was... well, Jack Frost. It didn't help that Pippa had a noticeable pull on Jamie, either. Jamie purposely avoided hitting her or ignored her completely so that he wouldn't face her. This gave Jack an idea about how to win.

He made his way across the arena to where Pippa was hiding behind a makeshift base. He whispered faintly in her ear and a devilish smile spread across her face. Looking at Jack and nodding, she stood up and walked directly into the middle of the arena, not even bothering to completely avoid the snowballs hurtling toward her. Most of them missed or hit her pant legs, anyway. The ones that were closer she simply sidestepped. Not that anyone was aware, but Jack was making it so that the snow evaded her. It was a hard task that the spirit of winter wasn't used to pulling off, yet it worked quite well. She walked up behind Jamie and tapped him on the shoulder.

Jamie whirled around, a mass of snow in his hands ready to drop. He stopped dead when he saw who it was. He smirked, believing he knew what she was doing.

"So, are you trying to call a truce, Pippa?" Jamie smiled coyly. "Well it won't work!" He was about to turn around on his heel when Pippa's hand fell on his shoulder. Freezing in place, he stared at her hand, then back at her.

Without warning, Pippa leaned in and kissed Jamie's cheek. Stunned, he started to stutter and ramble incoherently about how completely uncalled for her action was and how she was cheating the game and that she wasn't helping her team but none of it came out right. His cheeks flushed a bright red as he silenced himself, embarrassed at making a fool of himself.

It was then that Jack whirled his staff around and made a large amount of snow accumulate above Jamie. Pulling on Jamie's jacket deftly, he let the snow fall directly onto Jamie's back. Jack then snapped the jacket back, put more snow in Jamie's hood, and threw it over his head. Taken completely by surprise, Jamie made an awful shrieking noise and jumped up and down, trying to alleviate the intense cold against his back.

"Jack!" Jamie shouted indignantly. "That wasn't fair!"

Jack simply swirled his staff around and tapped the end of it on the ground twice, smirking as he did so.

Nothing happened for a moment. Jamie was about to run toward Jack when a copious amount of snow fell heavily, burying him beneath it all. Stepping one foot onto the pile, Jack announced his victory.

His smile couldn't be wiped off of his face even if the world outside of this arena fell to ashes around him. He had Jamie and his friends around him, the first people that saw him and saved the Guardians. Jack couldn't be happier for the moment.

Jamie popped his head out of the snow, pouting in defeat. "Next time, Jack, you're so going down!"

"We'll see how that goes." Jack winked.

After playing a few more games with Jack, the kids began to leave, one-by-one. Homework, chores, and dinner, among other reasons, sent them off the ice and up the hill. Jamie remained, eager to catch up with the one who made him believe in the Guardians again.

"Jack," Jamie's voice was noticeably deeper, Jack noted. "Man, it's so good to see you again!"

"I almost thought you wouldn't see me at all," Jack admitted.

"Are you kidding me? You told me that as long as I believed, I'd always be able to see you."

Jack smiled and sat up on the ledge that hung over the far side of the pond, looking away with distant eyes. All of this change was difficult to keep up with, and it had only been four years. "Yeah, you're right."

In reality, Jack knew that Jamie would grow up eventually, and that he would forget about Jack and the Guardians. Jack ached for that never to happen; he constantly clung to the idea of him and Jamie being friends forever. But bitterness settled in the back of his mind because he knew that there would be a day when there was no Jamie Bennett, and Jack would have to continue his Guardianship with merely a memory. Thankfully, there was no way he could lose his memories again, now that he had them all back.

Suddenly remembering Jamie's interaction with Pippa just before Jack showed up, he snickered. "So, you and Pippa, hmm?"

Jamie blushed and turned away. "What about her?"

"You like her!" Jack answered as Jamie rolled his eyes. "And don't tell me it's not true, I can tell if you're lying."

Jamie stared at him and laughed, trying to cover up his blushing. "No you can't, Jack!"

"Oh yeah? Are you calling me a liar?" Jack jumped down from the ledge, landing softly beside Jamie. He reached and put his arm around Jamie's shoulders, shocked to realize that Jamie was almost as tall as he was. "Don't worry, she definitely likes you back. I can tell you that."

Jamie was caught off guard. "Does she?"

"Oh yeah, big, mushy, pink hearts floating around her and everything," Jack waved his arms around and Jamie wasn't sure if Jack was being dead serious or sarcastic. "Do you want me to get Cupid to come by and help you out?"

"Funny," Jamie mused, "seems like you haven't grown up at all."

"Aw, now who said that I would?" Jack leaned on his staff and arched an eyebrow.

"So what have you been doing, Jack?"

"Oh, you know," Jack fell into repetition, "freezing things, flying places. Twenty-four-seven fun stuff."

"Wow," Jamie sat down on the rock that popped out from the middle of the pond. In the summer, they used this rock to play King of the Hill (although Cupcake usually won, so it was really Queen of the Hill most days). During the winter, it merely served as a nasty trip for those who went ice skating. "I wish I could still be doing that sort of thing."

"Why's that, kiddo?"

"Well, for starters, there's school." Jamie began to explain and ramble about his life now that he was going to begin high school after the summer. His eyes widened as he went into detail about how much work he was going to get assigned and how he couldn't believe the amount of new kids that he would be meeting. He mentioned briefly how he may make new friends and how he worried about losing the ones that he had. _He definitely paused when he said Pippa's name, _Jack smirked. Then Jamie explained how, now that he's old enough, he has to watch Sophie some days instead of hanging out with his friends. Occasionally, he would take Sophie with him to play with the others, but she always wound up getting hurt some way or another. It was annoying and he didn't like it but she's his sister so he has to watch her.

"But not for the next week, I won't." Jamie concluded.

"Oh?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Jamie answered, "I think we might get someone to move in and help with the housework and watch Sophie while mom goes on this company trip or whatever."

"Really?" Jack was intrigued. "Have you met them yet?"

"Not yet, they're moving in sometime within the week, if we're lucky. And then we go back to school on Tuesday."

"Maybe we could give them a good, old-fashioned 'Jack Frost hello'?" Jack grinned mischievously.

"I am so in on that!" Jamie agreed.

No sooner were the words out that Jamie was spewing out ideas about what he and Jack could do for pranks. Perhaps they both knew that time was running out for them to be together. Jack wanted something memorable to tag onto the word "Jamie." He wanted to know that Jamie would grow up to be the man that Jack Frost never became. Sometimes he was vaguely upset that he had to die so young. His sister, also named Sophie, had to live the rest of her years without her beloved brother, and he never got to watch her turn into the beautiful young lady that he knew she became. To make it up to her, somehow, was Jack's purpose. He served as a protector and provider to the children of the world because he wanted them to grow up knowing that they had all the fun they could have possibly wanted. A faint, sad smile touched Jack's lips when he looked up at the stars, marveling at the crisp night sky.

But then something caught his attention. Lights flickered around the stars and stillness settled over the night. A chill sent even Jack Frost into shivers. Jamie stopped talking and looked at Jack expectantly.

"What's going on, Jack?"

"The Northern Lights," Jack muttered. "Something's wrong. You should go home, Jamie."

"But what about our plans, Jack?" Jamie complained, but Jack was already rising into the air, anxious to get back to the North Pole.

"Tomorrow, Jamie," Jack answered, "I promise. It's probably not a big deal," he tried to reassure the boy.

But in his heart, Jack knew North wouldn't have sent the signal if there wasn't something wrong. Calling to the wind, Jack flew off with great speed and urgency.

* * *

**A/N: Sort of a boring chapter, but some important grounds had to be set in place. Next chapter is much more interesting!**


	3. At Odds

**Chapter 3** \- _At Odds_

* * *

North and the others were still sitting around at the North Pole because the discussion was paused every time that Tooth was given updated information on children's teeth. She hardly got a sentence out before she was back to ordering her fairies. Sandy decided he had to get back to his job, which was the exact definition of "full-time" since the globe was always turning, and it was always night somewhere. This left Bunny and North to eternally bicker amongst themselves about which holiday was more important: Easter or Christmas. During the argument, North had noticed specks of black sand on the globe of lights, and walked up in the middle of Bunny's monologue about the importance of his eggs to check it out.

"Are you listenin', North?" Bunny stopped after he realized North was behind him staring at the globe, ignoring him. "North?"

"Bunny," North warned him. "Is not good. You see what I see, no?" He then pointed to a small portion of the globe in Northern Canada.

"What," Bunny hopped over, "is Jack puttin' lights out, now?" He was joking, but only because he couldn't see what North was staring at.

"Is not Jack," North said gravely, grabbing a hold of Bunny and holding him closer to the spot on the globe. "Is black sand!"

The normally cheerful meeting hall with bright red carpets and clean wooden beams became an ominous stage bathed in harsh light. Before Bunny could answer, North let go of him. He muttered something about getting Jack back to the North Pole, but in less polite terms. Putting his hand on the switch that would send out the Northern Lights, he paused. "Rimsky Korsakov," North swore just before he activated the lights.

Tooth finally stopped for a full second to realize what North had done. "Wait, North? What are you doing? What's going on? Are you sure that's really necessary?" Each question became more worrisome as it left her lips.

"We have no choice, Tooth," North became more urgent. "Black sand appeared on globe, and no one has time but Jack. And," North looked into one of his globe portals he took out of his pocket. The swirls of snow lessened to reveal a dark village of only a few houses and one or two streets, with no snow in sight. "It happens to be town Jack has not sent snow yet."

"Well, couldn't it just all be coincidence?" Tooth suggested dubiously.

"Den why is black sand dere?" North stressed. "Pitch has not been seen in four years! He could be planning somezing big," North spread his arms wide with disbelief, then put his head in his hand and began pacing the room.

"Maybe he's trying to set us a trap," Bunny offered in explanation.

"So why send Jack?" Tooth asked.

"Because, was his job!" North slammed his hands on the table, which spooked Bunny.

"What's going on, North?" Jack flew in through the high window and landed on top of the globe. He perched forward, leaning on his staff and looked at the remaining Guardians. Sandman had already left the meeting, and Tooth was covertly ordering her fairies so as not to disturb the current events unfolding. Even she wouldn't look in his direction long enough for them to lock eyes. They all seemed on edge as they peered up at him carefully. "Is there something wrong, guys? I mean, you used the lights, didn't you?" Jack looked at each of the Guardians questioningly in turn.

Everyone looked away uncomfortably except North, who sighed heavily. Jack narrowed his eyes and braced for some sort of vocal disappointment. Jack didn't think that he did anything wrong, but they all looked worried for some reason or another. _Was my leaving their meeting really that big a deal? I mean, come on, I was doing my job! That's why I'm a Guardian!_

North peered up at Jack and spoke after a long silence. "Jack, move left foot." North gestured.

Jack looked down and moved his bare foot off a part of Northern Canada. He saw a small mound of black sand rolling down the side of the globe, loosened by his foot. Some had even stuck to the bottom of his foot. He furrowed his brow as he tried to wipe the sand off. _This isn't right. If Pitch had been here, we would have known. But there's no way he's back,_ Jack tried to assure himself.

"Pitch," was all that Jack could mumble, still concentrated on the idea and the sand. "There's no way," he stated as he glided to the floor, landing softly. "He imprisoned, isn't he?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time we didn't believe the big guy," Bunny pointed to North.

"Jack, take globe and go to village," North ordered him, shoving a portal globe into his hands. "See what is going on, and fix it. Make sure Pitch is not problem."

"But why me? Can't one of you guys go instead?" Jack waved to the other Guardians.

"Jack," Tooth touched his shoulder affectionately, "you haven't sent any snow there yet. It might be better if you check it out."

Jack hated that they were ordering him around, but he couldn't be angry at Tooth. She meant well, and he knew that. But he couldn't shake off the disapproving looks from Bunny. Jack narrowed his eyes in Bunny's direction, mocking his expression. Bunny's look changed to one of disbelief and he strutted off angrily. And to think that they had been getting along so well recently. When Jack turned his eyes back to North, even he looked more concerned than jolly. In fact, the giant man had a stern look painted on his face. Jack visibly lowered his shoulders in acquiescence. "Alright, fine. I'll go."

_This is ridiculous, _Jack rolled his eyes as he hopped out of the window with his staff and portal globe held tightly. The brisk air bit at his face and he took a long, deep breath and closed his eyes. This weather seemed to be the only solace he had some days, even after becoming a Guardian. Once kids had gone to bed, he would often have nights where all he did was make random snowmen on lawns or long, claw-like icicles off of roofs. Granted these nights were never rare, yet every time they did happen he was reminded of the past three hundred lonely years. That experience didn't go away, not easily. Jack exhaled after a long while and tossed the globe in front of him. Pushing off against the roof of North's workshop, he launched himself through the portal and flew to whatever errand the other Guardians wanted him to run.

But what he saw he didn't think he would ever forget, even if he wanted to.

A bright orange light flickered against the blackness, hiding the stars above. The fire had already engulfed the entire house on the far edge of town, opposite from where he was watching from the sky. The light was intense, even for Jack, and the heat that it gave off was even more so. The screams of the townspeople were varying from confusion to terror. Even worse, Jack could hear children screaming in fear.

_Fear..._

Jack raced off to the house as fast as he possibly could. He shot ice from his staff at the house, but the flames hardly flickered. Although his ice was freezing cold, the fire only showed a slow retreat and made stopping it nearly impossible. Then a noise rose above the crackling and made him look closer despite the intense heat drying out his eyes. He recognized a girl crying in the window and tore straight for her, ignoring the blaze. Jack crashed through the window, shattering heated glass around him. The adults below saw nothing except flames licking the sides of the sill on the second floor.

Once inside the room, Jack realized exactly how hot this fire had become. It was bothering even him, which was unusual. His frost and general frigidity had always kept him cold and comfortable. But this heat was eating at his feet and hands and burning his eyes so that they were little more than struggling tears as he tried to blink moisture back into them. An ember caught on his sleeve and burned straight through to his skin, making him grimace painfully and flick the piece away. Looking around in desperation, he saw the little girl cowering under a table. When he tried to take a step toward her, the floor underneath his feet gave way. Jack gasped as he jumped toward the girl and froze the ground where he was once standing. The ice didn't last long, though, as a pool of water was already evaporating into the air.

"Who are you?" the girl trembled, barely looking up. The poor girl was so terribly frightened and confused that she couldn't make the connection.

"Jack Frost," he said simply, knowing that she believed if she was able to see him. Thank the Man in the Moon that was the case. Otherwise, Jack didn't think he would have been able to get this girl to safety.

"Are you here to put the fire out?" she whispered, coughing from the thick smoke that was starting to curl under the table.

Jack wished with all his heart that he could. Instead, he picked up the girl and ran down the stairs, only to find that they had already been eaten away by the inferno below. The fire reflected in his eyes as he realized they were trapped. Cursing to himself, he clutched the kid closer to him and used his staff to send ice through another window, which did nothing. Water beads slid down the pane as evidence of his futile attempt. He growled, remembering his powers weren't going to help. Running up to the window, he shouldered the glass. It didn't budge. He walked back a few paces before remembering that there was a hole in the floor. Putting the girl down, she grabbed onto his arm and whimpered fearfully. He knelt down to face her and took her hand from his arm. After murmuring instructions to stay still, he coughed and stood back up. Jack bit his lip and hoped this would work. Trying again, Jack threw his shoulder into the window. There were slight cracks beginning to show, and Jack picked up his staff. Throwing his entire arm into it, he shattered the glass around the top of the table. Jack picked the girl back up, braced himself, and jumped.

He knew the girl was crying, but not because they fell from a two-storey window. Jack had begun flying as soon as he got out of that horrific house. Setting her down on the ground, he tried to soothe her with gentle words. She had begun to calm down when a woman came running up to her.

"Amelia! Sweetheart," she was in hysterics. "How did you get out? Oh no, did you jump?! Are you hurt? Oh my goodness, let's get you something to cool you down!"

"But mom," the kid coughed. "Jack Frost came and saved me. He was pretty cold, so I'm not all that warm anymore." Jack narrowed his eyes at the girl playfully.

Instead of feeling reassured for her daughter's safety, the woman gasped. "Oh dear, the fever is already settling in. Come here, Amelia, sweetheart. Let's get you to the neighbor's."

She started to object when Jack placed his hand on her shoulder. When Amelia looked up at him, Jack smiled and winked, then promised he would be back soon. She smiled and ran to greet her weeping mother with a long, caring hug.

As the scene played out, Jack was reminded of his mother. The way that she hugged him had always been the urgent kind of hug, like she needed him around or she was going to break. She had worked so hard to keep him and his sister safe and sound. In turn, Jack had done all that he could for her, from taking care of Sophie to doing small chores to make her feel better. If a fire had ever gone through the house like this current one, Jack's mother would have been devastated.

Not to mention how she must have felt when Jack drowned.

He shook his head and pushed the thought away as best he could. The stars were hardly visible because of the burning house, and it made him feel somewhat isolated. Jack wanted to help stop the fire, but he already knew his powers were of no use. He looked up at the sky again, and thought he saw something dark, barely outlined by the fire's glow. Before he could look further, a bright ball of light was flying toward him. He vaulted out of the way, only to find that where he was standing was now scorched ground with smoke curling into the winter air. Jack searched the night sky and saw a figure floating above the town. The worn cloak hid the perpetrator's face and hair, obscuring any identifying information. However, two yellow dots were made visible underneath the dark hood. Jack took off to catch the unidentified figure.

Once high in the night air, he twisted himself around anxiously. Whoever it was had already flown off, but Jack knew that they must have started the fire. He gritted his teeth and flew around the area a few more times before settling on the fact that the would-be murderer was gone without a trace.

It was on his way back down to the ground when something intangible hit him. Flashes of images and words had encompassed him. They were overwhelmingly unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. His sister's tearful face flew by, then his mother's solemn one. The scene changed, their faces disappeared, and the pond spread out before him. But unlike the times he had seen it, the surface and surrounding hillsides were ablaze. He sensed behind him an angry man that glared at his back with utter contempt. Jack whirled around and yellow eyes stared from behind the aforementioned man's shoulders, boring into Jack's soul. Then his cloak that he had discarded years ago lifted itself from behind this man and floated over the pond. Jack's neck snapped around, trying to take in all of the information at once. It seemed that someone was wearing the cloak, suspended above the water, and gazing at Jack. All of a sudden it leaped toward him, and the images changed again. Their swirling, random pattern choked him with a slow, seething burn. He had begun to drop to the ground without realizing it. His heart beat became the only thing that he could hear, apart from the flames. Time crawled and fear entangled him, strangling his body in jerky twists.

When he finally hit the ground, everything disappeared in one grand moment. Jack's breath flew out of him so quickly that he could only stare at the black peppered sky in complete bewilderment. Suddenly, he gasped and inhaled sharply when he realized he hadn't been breathing. He shook violently as he sat up and stared at the ground where his feet lay motionless.

_What was that...?_

Jack lay himself back down in the snow and let it seep back into his clothes, instantly frosting as he exhaled deep breaths. Gathering up some snow in his fist, he put the snow directly on his forehead and waited until he could think clearly again. He was too tired and confused to conjure up more snow just to alleviate a headache. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the part of his sweatshirt that had gotten burned. Frowning, he took his other hand and infused ice over the hole, hoping he could fix it better soon.

_Was it because I followed that thing?_ Jack thought at last, believing that the worse was over. _I haven't felt that way since I retrieved my memories from─_

Jack stopped mid thought. He was lying in snow. He _had_ brought snow here! North was either lying, or mistaken. Looking back toward the village, which was below the hill he was on, the fire was still churning. But around the entire village, he realized, the snow had melted. Jack had expected that the fire would melt some snow surrounding the house, but not around the entire village! He thought about the figure perched above the village earlier. Had their fire been so hot as to turn the entire village into a winterless area? Shivering at the thought, he looked around for his staff. He must have dropped it when he fell. He found it a few feet away, unscathed, and used it to push himself up off the ground. Using what power he had, he rose up into the air and decided this place needed some snow before depression settled over the village about the loss of the house.

* * *

**Sorry that it's another short chapter but I feel like there was enough happening in this chapter to cut it where I did. I'll probably be updating more frequently while the chapters are shorter (which won't be that way for long). Please review, I want to get better!**


	4. Hot Ashes

**Chapter 4** \- _Hot Ashes_

* * *

Cinder was woken up on a bench inside a bus station by someone looming over her, shining a light in her eye. Blinking furiously, she grimaced and muttered something incoherent.

"Miss, this is a public space. You can't sleep here," an authoritative voice boomed, shaking her consciousness. _He needs to stop waving that damn light in my eyes,_ she thought rudely. "You need to get up, ma'am."

"I'll move in a minute," Cinder grumbled. "I just arrived after working all night and thought I could use a quick nap." When she got used to the lighting, she noticed that a cop was staring down at her dubiously.

"It's 12:30pm," the cop stated, looking rather unpleased.

Knitting her brows together, Cinder rolled on the bench and peered at a clock on the opposite wall. It was 12:34pm, actually, but she decided not to argue. Thankfully she wasn't drunk or she'd be in bigger trouble.

"Sorry, officer," she apologized, stretching. "Must have been out longer than I thought. I'll leave as soon as I can."

"Take your time, miss." The officer looked concerned. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, I can walk," Cinder bit back a retort.

"Would you like me to call your parents?"

"No, I'll be fine, really." With that, the officer nodded and walked away. Cinder almost laughed. Her parents were long dead, hundreds-of-years-ago dead, as far as she was concerned. In fact, she never remembered her parents. Even for all that it was worth, Pitch hardly counted. She didn't even want to start thinking about whatever "home" meant...

That brought her to another problem. Cinder needed another place to live, and with that she needed a job. She sat up and patted down her hair, which was rough and frizzy from being kept under a hooded cloak the entire night. Pitch's job had been frustratingly easy, but what had really annoyed her was that she had to remain unseen. It was always funny to watch adults and kids stare up in the sky in disbelief, seeing a girl just floating there. But no, Pitch didn't want Cinder to have fun. That would be too risky. In hindsight, however, Cinder thought it was probably a good idea. That other flying idiot almost ruined everything.

At first, Cinder thought she had been seeing things. It was a weird twist on her point of view, to see someone else flying, but she decided to watch what he did instead. The flying boy was hard to distinguish in the night because his hair and skin was a snowy white and his dark blue sweatshirt had blended into the night. What was more intriguing, however, was the staff that the boy held. Although she was too far up in the sky to understand it exactly, it sent chills through her skin. Not real chills that someone gets when they become cold, no, but something more eerie. Then the boy disappeared into the burning building like a moron. Cinder was about to leave the site when she saw that the boy came out the other side of the building. Incredulous, Cinder warmed up her palm. This white-haired idiot was trying to destroy her job. Pitch would be furious. But by the time she shot the ball of fire that lit in her hand, he saw her and dodged. After that, she flew to the farthest ground she could and hit the ground running. If he followed her, she didn't want to stick out.

The boy had looked at her. And she had looked back at him. If the hood had not been hiding her face, Cinder feared it would have been over for her. Immortality can only go so far, and that boy looked furious enough to take it away from her. His eyes were the worst, though. They bore into her without actually _seeing_ her, and it made her feel uncomfortable. It nagged at the back of her mind that something was off about them. They were _too blue_. It was as if they were not natural, as if they weren't the right color. Then again, flying wasn't a natural human function, either.

Bringing herself back to the present, Cinder stood up and stretched again. Her backpack leaned against the wall on the side of the bench, untouched. She looked around and found the local newspaper on a rack near the ticket counter. As she picked it up, the woman at the ticket counter spoke, startling her.

"You need to pay for that, miss."

Recovering quickly, she replied, "I'm just looking, it's not going anywhere."

The ticket counter women rolled her eyes as if she wasn't paid enough to deal with this, which she probably wasn't. Cinder brought the paper back to the bench and leafed through it until she found the classifieds. She couldn't work at the ticket counter, it required too much information that she didn't have. This was the most frustrating part about immortality. She had to keep changing her IDs, including her Social Security card and her driver's license (learning to drive was too hard, so this was usually forged, anyway) every ten or so years because she never aged. Eventually she gave up and settled for under-the-table jobs. Unfortunately, newspapers were a poor way of finding those kinds of jobs, but it did give her ideas occasionally.

Skimming through the end of the page, she almost gave up until she saw "house-sitter: includes a room to stay" pop out. At this point, she didn't really care what job she took, but this one gave her a place to stay as well; two birds with one stone. There was no way that she was going to pass up this one.

After she dialed the number on the phone in the station, she fingered the ring on her left hand anxiously. It was a silver piece, and trapped in the center was a blue opal. It shone and spots of green and electric blue that speckled the stone constantly shifted underneath the heart shaped facet. She didn't know where it came from, but it wasn't like she could just get rid of it. Sure, it was amazingly pretty, but it would never come off. Try as she might, the piece was stuck around her ring finger, although her fingers had never grown. Something was keeping it there, but she couldn't understand what.

Then a voice crackled on the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi," Cinder spoke with her sweetest, most innocent voice she could muster, "I'm calling about your ad in the paper? You said you needed a house-sitter?"

"Oh, yes," the woman sounded relieved. "Yes, of course. And you are?"

"I'm Cinder," she replied. "Cinder McAllister," she made up on the spot. Every few years she had to change it so that the authorities wouldn't look for her when she disappeared. They usually didn't notice, though, because Cinder made sure no one got too close. But it was always nice to have a backup plan.

"Mhm," the woman must have been scribbling the name down. Hopefully she didn't try to look Cinder up, because she wouldn't find anything. "So Cindy─"

"Cinder," she corrected the woman on the phone.

"I'm sorry?"

"Cinder, C-I-N-D-E-R. Like ashes."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the voice was exhausted. "I've been up so late working that I'm just a little too tired. I really do need the help around here."

"No," Cinder assured her, "no, that's fine. A lot of people don't get it right the first time." Even Cinder had issues with her name.

"Oh, well," the woman paused, "it's a nice name. Anyway, if there's a day that you could come by and see the house, that'd be wonderful."

"I can come by right now if you're not busy," Cinder offered, knowing she didn't have anywhere else to be at the moment.

"Oh, could you?" the woman's voice was hopeful. "Thank you so much."

They spoke for a few more minutes with Cinder relaying all of her relevant information. After the woman gave Cinder the directions, Cinder hung up and walked back to the bench. She picked up her backpack and headed outside the station. She needed some fresh air. She hadn't wanted to relay the story behind her name, but that didn't stop the memories from flooding back into her consciousness.

* * *

_She woke up sputtering and coughing, wheezing and groaning in pain. She couldn't move. As much as she tried, she was stuck. Every movement sent another wave of pain through whatever she could feel of her body left. Her vision was blurry and shaky; her hearing was replaced with crackling noises and static. When she tried to set herself up on her elbows, something snapped and she fell back down. She wasn't able to scream, hadn't been for awhile now. From what she could tell, she was trapped underneath charred logs. However, her body looked much the same way, black and smoldering. The smell of burning flesh infiltrated her senses and made her sick. Had she been in a fire? How long had she been here? She wasn't sure, but she knew she wasn't supposed to be alive. _

_Or maybe this was what death was?_

_Unless her vision was failing her, which it was, she swore she saw someone just past the tree line. Her first attempt to speak ended in a fit of coughing and other grotesque noises._

_"Help... me..." she stuttered feebly, "please, help..."_

_Much to her dimmed surprise, the figure stopped. But it was still too far away, she feared._

_"I'm... trapped, burnt..." this last effort sent her into another outburst of pain._

_Her memory failed her here, but she knew the figure had come to help because next time she awoke, she was being carried. The new position, free from the weight above her, almost felt good. She tried to stretch or move in some way, and a new pain sent her into shock and a small gasp escaped her dry lips._

_"Ouch," she whimpered._

_"Shh, keep quiet," the figure whispered harshly. "You'll be fine in a few minutes."_

_She wasn't sure what that meant. Wasn't she burned completely, from head to toe? She could hardly speak or move, what else could she ever be good for in this state? _

_A new shock made her cry out weakly. She must have blacked out again. Her vision twisting again, she was able to make out that she had been settled onto a snow bank. The snow melted into her back, which was both a pleasant and horrifying sensation. She would have cried if she had had any water in her body at all._

_She looked around for her savior, but he wasn't anywhere close. Her hearing had cleared somewhat, though, and she thought she heard someone close by, talking urgently._

_"Save her!" she heard him yell clearly. "I know that you can!"_

_Then he paused, as if listening to someone else._

_"But she can see me," he offered in answer. "She's the only one after you sent those damn Guardians who can see me! She can't die! I've waited for this for too long!"_

Guardians..._ she thought. Another pause occurred as she strained to hear who he was talking to._

_"One companion in this lonely world is all I ask for!"_

_Confused, the girl tried to sit up. To her amazement, it only hurt enough to make her grunt miserably. Still enough to kill her, probably, but she didn't care._

_"If you won't, then I will!" And that's when he turned to her._

_Fear raced through her heart, which she was surprised to find still beating. His eyes were an intense and insane yellow, and they were trained on her. She tried to get up and run. The antagonizing pain was so great that she could not stand, but she managed a crawl and whimpered hastily. Then suddenly, something made a sickening sound inside her, and she fell to the ground once again. The blackness in the edges of her vision grew until she saw nothing more._

x

_The girl woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Then she clamped her hand over her mouth, thinking she was going to cough violently. When she didn't, she looked at her hands. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the pale, unearthly skin. There were no burn marks. Anxiously, she checked over the rest of her body, looking at her arms, legs, stomach, and finally─_

_She stopped completely. There was a large, black scar where her chest was expanding and deflating with each frantic breath she took. Touching it sensitively, she couldn't be entirely sure what it meant._

_"You shouldn't touch that, it may still be sensitive."_

_The girl yanked her hand away and shrieked, backing up towards the wall. That's when she saw that she was on a bed inside a cabin. The walls were a smooth oak, and the bed she was sure had about a thousand blankets on it._

_"Who are you? Where am I? What did you do to me?" The girl asked rapid fire questions without taking a break, and she was soon out of breath. She was amazed again at the fact that she was able to talk without croaking horribly._

_"Calm down," the man said. His skin was an ashen gray, and he was in a gray robe of sorts. His black hair was smoothed back to expose his forehead, creased in concentration. Then there were his eyes: a bright, knowledgeable yellow that made her question his motives._

_"What do you remember, child? Do you have a name?"_

_The girl was about to speak, but she stopped herself. Searching her brain furiously, she found she could not answer his questions. She had no idea who she was. Even a name was hard to extract, let alone what had happened to her. She didn't remember anything before waking up under the burned logs._

_"I don't know," she finally succumbed._

_"In that case," he began quietly. "I'll call you 'Cinder.'"_

_"Cinder..." she played with the word a few times. It sounded right. Almost anything would have, at this point._

_"Yes," the man soothed, "there you go."_

_Cinder looked at the man with expectant eyes._

_"Ah, yes," the man was reminded. "My apologies, I am Pitch."_

_"Pitch," Cinder repeated._

_"Is repeating words all you can do?" Pitch asked._

_In a quick flare of anger, she glared at him. But then she realized just how heated her body was. It was as if he had sealed the fire inside of her, and she was nothing but a walking furnace. Her limbs were infused with hot blood that pulsed loudly inside her head._

_"What's happening to me?"_

_"Hmm, looks like I couldn't make it think, what a shame." The man turned around and tapped his forehead dramatically. Cinder got the feeling he was just playing with her._

_"Tell me," Cinder growled, "now." Her anger flared again and she looked down at her hands that gripped the blankets tightly. In shock, she saw that the blankets were burned where she had gripped them. She gasped and wrapped her arms around her knees in defense._

_Pitch looked over his shoulder and smiled. "I see you've found an answer."_

_"I'm a monster," she whispered faintly._

_"A monster?!" the man boomed back at her, making her cower. "No," his voice calmed down strangely, "you are not a monster. I gave you another chance to be free. If that sounds monstrous, then perhaps─"_

_"Wait, 'another chance'?" Cinder interrupted, "Did I die?"_

_Pitch grinned devilishly. "Precisely, young child."_

_"And... you saved me?" Cinder let go of her legs and stared at her hands. She didn't feel like she died, at least not at the present moment. She didn't look like she died either. The intense heat she felt inside her almost felt normal now, like it had always been a part of her._

_"Yes, and I gave you those powers. Why don't you try them out?"_

_Cinder looked at him quizzically. When he waved her toward him, she carefully stood up from the bed. Her feet also felt on fire, and the ground she stepped on became scorched. She quickly retracted her foot and stared in horror at Pitch._

_"It's okay," Pitch explained, "you'll get used to it. Come now."_

_Cinder tried again, holding her breath. To her surprise, the earth did not burn again when she put her foot down. She took another wobbly step, and another, and finally she was walking again. She grinned in satisfaction and looked up excitedly at the man who revived her._

_"Thank you, Pitch," she whispered gratefully as she threw her arms around him, trying not to let the heat escape her. _

_Pitch stood stock still, unsure about the situation. "Of course," he cleared his throat, "there's the matter of the contract."_

_She backed away from him, puzzled. "Contract?"_

_"Well, I revived you, didn't I?" Pitch asked incredulously._

_"Yeah, I guess," Cinder thought her way through what he was saying._

_"Then let's make a deal." Pitch reached out his hand. After a few moments of hesitation, she took it._

* * *

Cinder was standing against the side of the bus station, wincing at the thoughts consuming her mind. Pitch offered Cinder an offer she couldn't refuse. Without a past, she didn't see another way to make a step in the world. If she became his agent, as he called it, he would grant her immortality. _We'll keep each other alive, Cinder._ His words rang in her mind over and was dubious at first, but after the first ten years of not aging, she began to believe him. Besides, he taught her how to make it in this world; how to control her powers of heat and fire. For that, she should have been eternally grateful. But now, after three hundred years, she just wanted to move on and live out the rest of forever in isolation. That was never going to happen, however, because people were always going to be able to see her.

That was the major difference between Pitch and herself. Everyone, from the old to the young, could see Cinder, but they could not see Pitch. When she discovered this, she realized just how unusual she was. She could never be alone again.

Sighing heavily, Cinder pushed herself off the wall, picked up her backpack, and headed down the street.

People turned to her almost immediately. Rude stares were caught by mothers who then, in turn, stared at her as well. Shifting her backpack uncomfortably, she kept her eyes looking straight ahead. She realized everyone was looking at her, and her panic started to rise again.

"Hey, miss! Wait up!" Cinder heard a voice behind her, getting closer. She slowed down and waited for the man's next words.

"You'll freeze to death if you walk outside in this much further," the man turned to face her. He was middle-aged and had dark brown hair peeking out of a cap. He wore a jacket that was large and thick. That's when it hit her.

She was not dressed for January.

Looking down, she sighed as she realized she was wearing a tank top and dark jeans. In hindsight, she probably should have bought a jacket before coming here. Not that it mattered. The cold was not something that occurred to her.

"I'll be fine, really," she tried to reason with the man, repeated her words.

"Impossible," the man explained. "It is fifteen degrees out. You'll die of hypothermia before you go much further."

Cinder knew that the man was over exaggerating, but she still didn't like the stares she was getting from everyone.

"Here's some money," he took her hand and put a twenty dollar bill in it. Thankfully, he was wearing gloves and couldn't sense the overwhelming heat that escaped from her palm. "There's a shop just around the corner. Please, take it."

Cinder bit her lip. She was running out of money. She could just take this and go on with her life. Then she reminded herself of the looks she was getting, and realized that she probably shouldn't stick out so easily.

"Thank you, sir," Cinder smiled warmly. "I'll get to that."

"Take care, miss," the man waved as he walked back the other way.

Sighing, she went to where the man had mentioned and bought a cheap, but warm-looking, sweater. Before leaving, she looked at herself one more time in the mirror. But she wasn't looking at the sweater. She concentrated on her eyes. They were not yellow. They were not changing. She sighed with relief and walked away, the green haze of her irises swirled around in content.

* * *

**A/N: Hopefully this clues you in on some of the story behind Cinder. But it's more complicated than it seems ;) Please review and have a good day!**


	5. Tooth for a Tooth

**A/N: Hello everyone! I've decided to upload this chapter a little sooner, but don't worry! The next chapter will still be updated sometime on Friday. This one's fairly short, anyway. Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 5** \- _Tooth for a Tooth_

* * *

Meanwhile, Jack was back at the North Pole, searching for North. The fact that the big guy was easy to miss in a place like this puzzled Jack extremely. After he crawled through the window, he floated above the globe momentarily. When North didn't answer his call, he glided down to the floor and put his hands in his front pocket. His staff was stationed between his arm and his side and tapped on the floor with every other step.

Walking through the wide doorway, Jack entered the open area of North's workshop where he could see all the way down the various levels. The yetis were already hard at work for next Christmas, 11 months away. Jack smirked and shook his head; this man was always busy. No wonder he claimed that he didn't have time for the children. Admittedly, he was impressed. Jack felt there was no way he could do all of this work himself.

"Hey, North!" Jack shouted to the void. The yetis all stopped and stared at him. Jack backed away uneasily, apologizing. He hadn't backed up two steps before he felt something furry behind him. When he turned around with surprise, he found that it was just Phil. The yeti grumbled in a strange language that only North understood and pointed down one of the many corridors.

"Uh, thanks Phil," Jack nodded and took off in the direction of North's private workshop.

Stopping at the door, Jack hesitated. He came here to ask North about what happened to him, but that was the problem. Jack didn't know what happened to him. Some of the images he had recognized only because it involved his sister and mother. The other people in the images, however, he didn't understand. It made him realize that the only people he remembered, from the times when he was human, were his family. He didn't even know what his father looked like, or how he talked, or where he had been. He doubted the man that he saw during the episode was his father. That man was terrifying beyond all definition.

Swallowing the uneasiness he felt, he knocked urgently. "North?"

Jack heard a surprised thud and then a few more, slowly getting louder. Then the door opened and Jack was staring up at a grumpy Santa Claus. He groaned inwardly, hoping North wasn't too angry.

North blinked in surprise. "Jack? What are you doing here? Don't you know Christmas is soon?"

"You've got another year, North," Jack pointed out.

"Bah," North waved him off, "never you mind that now. Come in, Jack. Come in!" North stepped out of the doorway and allowed Jack access into the small room with large outer windows. Jack took a deep breath and walked over to the window, staring out over the vast, empty, permanent winter land. Normally, it made him feel more at home, but now that the snow couldn't give him answers, he felt out of place. He'd never felt more confused. Even when he first woke up at the pond he hadn't been this perplexed, and it worried him slightly.

"What is it, boy?" North interrupted his thoughts. "Must be important, yes? How did village go?"

"That's actually what I'm here to talk about," Jack started, unsure where to go from there.

"And?" North sat down at his stool, looking at Jack expectantly.

"It's not Pitch," Jack stopped himself. He wasn't even sure about that statement. Searching the room, he hoped his mind could find the right words. "I don't know what it is."

"Oh?" North had gotten back to his work, little by little. He didn't seem to care now that he found out Pitch wasn't actually there.

"Or who, I guess..." Jack's voice wandered off.

"What?" North's voice rose suddenly, making Jack jump slightly, his staff falling to the floor with a clatter. Picking it up, Jack continued.

"There was someone floating above the village, and they just watched as this building burned, and they shot fire at me, and─"

"Jack, Jack, slow down!" North clamped his giant hands around Jack's shoulders. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Jack shrugged off North's grasp, "that someone set fire to that building. And if I hadn't shown up, the whole village would have caught fire, too."

"Jack," North said softly, "what did they look like?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again to gather his thoughts. His eyes darted around, trying to go over what happened. In all honesty, he hadn't really seen the figure all that well.

"He had a hood on," Jack explained at last, giving the figure an attachable pronoun, "so I couldn't see him, really. But he had bright yellow eyes that glowed and he nearly killed a child!" Although always cold, Jack swore he felt heated with anger at that moment.

North turned away from Jack and looked at his tools sternly. "This is not good, Jack."

"And... there's something else," Jack ventured carefully.

"Hmm?" North muttered absently.

"When I tried to follow him," Jack paused, biting his lip, "these images and weird─ _memories_─ just appeared out of nowhere. I fell to the ground because they were just so overwhelming."

North was taken aback, furrowing his brows and frowning greatly. "I do not know what to say, Jack."

Then Jack thought of something.

"Do you think those memories were mine?"

North pondered the idea and leaned back. Finally, he threw up his hands and slapped his knees. "Why not? Did they not feel like they were yours?"

"I─ I don't know," Jack turned away. "I mean, I would have remembered those when I got my memories back, right?"

North shrugged. "I do not know, Jack." He stood up and put his arm around Jack's shoulders. "Perhaps you should ask Tooth. She knows more about teeth than I do," he tried laughing to lighten the mood, but Jack wasn't sharing the jolly feelings of which North had plenty.

"I guess I will," Jack resolved. Before he ran out the door, he turned on his toes and said to North, "Do you think we need to assemble the others again?"

"Eh, who knows? Manny has not talked in four years!" North shooed Jack. "Now, Christmas needs me! Go, Jack!"

Without another word, Jack pushed off and flew to his favorite entrance. Opening the window brought in a freezing cold draft that lifted Jack's spirits enough to spread the ghost of a smile across his face. The cold was his only reverie when he had been alone for those first three hundred years. Now, it looked like it was going to become his closest friend once again. Renewed with energy, he took off for the Tooth Palace.

* * *

Peering into the Tooth Palace, Jack looked around for the brightly-colored winged fairy. Hopefully she wasn't too busy. Jack could hardly imagine Tooth being too busy for him. She always seemed to make time for him to stop by whenever he asked.

Dropping down onto one of Tooth's many platforms, he saw tooth cases being plucked out and opened to make way for newly lost teeth and put back in place neatly by her many little fairies. Baby Tooth chirped brightly as she saw him, and hovered at his cheek, fluttering happily.

"Hey, Baby Tooth," Jack tried to smile. "Do you know where Tooth is?"

Baby Tooth squeaked and pointed upward to a platform where Jack now heard the hum of someone talking a thousand miles a minute. Smirking, he thanked Baby Tooth and vaulted himself up to the aforementioned platform.

Tooth was hovering in the middle, her back turned to Jack. She was chirping away orders to her fairies and became extraordinarily excited when one brought back a rather large and bloody molar. Tooth was always a little scary when it came to teeth like that. Jack leaned on his staff and watched her work momentarily. The way that she fluttered about haphazardly but functioned like clockwork was intriguing. He cleared his throat after standing there for over a minute, waiting for her oblivious self to turn around.

Tooth's face lit up like a Christmas tree, her purple eyes sparkling brighter than the whitest teeth she had ever received. She always looked like that whenever Jack came around. "Jack! Oh, it's so good to see you! I didn't think you'd stop by so soon! How are you? I'm sure my fairies can handle things for a few minutes. Right, girls?"

Her fairies all chirped and flew around more hectically, making Tooth laugh heartily. Jack's heart lifted, seeing Tooth so happy, but his smile couldn't match. Something still bothered him deeply, and even Tooth's hugs wouldn't cheer him up this time. He visited her the most out of all the Guardians. Jack was immensely grateful for Tooth telling him that he did in fact have a past. Pitch was the one who gave him his tooth case, but Jack never stopped thanking Tooth for keeping his teeth safe. Usually, as Jack found out, Tooth took the teeth of the deceased and released them indefinitely. Since Jack became a spirit, Tooth had the instinct not to get rid of his teeth. But now, those teeth were probably causing more problems than solving, all things considered.

"Tooth, I─"

"Oh, Jack, where are my manners?" Tooth fussed, flattening her feathers in embarrassment. "I've just had so much work, lately. I really wonder why..." She looked at him, realizing she was rambling again. "Hi," she stuttered.

Jack couldn't help but smile. Tooth was usually better about this, but she was completely unashamed of showing whatever feelings she had for Jack after Pitch was gone for good. It was sort of cute.

"Hey," Jack answered, "I don't mean to be rude, but this is sort of urgent."

Tooth's expression changed completely. She flew around him and put her hands on his shoulders. Jack rolled his eyes. What was with all of the Guardians acting like he was a child? _Well, I mean, technically I am, _he admitted in thought only.

"What happened? Are you upset about North sending you on that job?"

Jack sighed, looking away. Sure, that part was annoying, too, but there was a different pressing matter. He relayed every detail about the event to her, which was more than he did for North. It wasn't that he didn't trust North, but Tooth was much easier to talk to, even when she was playing the Mother figure. He talked about the child in the burning building, about how unnaturally hot the fire had been, about the figure in the sky, about the fireball he nearly gotten hit by, and lastly, about the memory attack. He even told her every detail he could about the memories he saw before he felt sick from reliving it. Tooth listened patiently, with varying expressions forming on her face as he went from one small detail to the next with increasing emotion. Just as Jack finished, she looked up at him suddenly and flew off.

Jack looked over the edge where she flew, but Tooth was nowhere to be found. Knowing she would reappear soon, he sat on the edge with his feet dangling freely below. The Tooth Palace was always so lively and colorful that it was impossible not to be happy. Whether or not that statement was true now, Jack couldn't tell. He was preoccupied with thoughts and feelings that didn't seem like his own. He swore he would find the guy responsible for the fire, responsible for the scaring the poor little girl. Even though it wasn't Pitch, Jack knew he hated this guy much, much more. That's when Jack remembered that there was black sand on North's globe. Surely that was Pitch's work? Frustrated, he let out a long, slow breath through his mouth that he didn't know he had been holding.

Tooth popped up in front of him suddenly, holding his tooth case. Jack looked at her quizzically.

"Look back in here, Jack," she urged him, putting the case in his hands. "Maybe you missed something." She flew up behind him. "I'll be right here," she assured him.

Nodding, Jack touched the top of the case lightly, waiting for the lights to shine and for his present self to fall out of consciousness like the first time. After a few long seconds, nothing happened. Staring in confusion, he tried again. The same thing happened again.

"It's," Jack was baffled, "it's not working."

Tooth flew in front of him again and took the case, opening the lid and peering inside. Using her finger, she pointed to each tooth in turn, named which one it was and counted at the same time in rapid haste. Stopping mid-word, she froze in disbelief.

"Tooth?" Jack tried to peer closer.

Tooth suddenly put the tooth case aside and stuck her fingers inside Jack's mouth. "Sorry, Jack," she muttered when she was done looking at his teeth. "I was just making sure. You have all your teeth, so that's good."

Jack's brows furrowed. "What about the case?"

"Oh, this?" Tooth picked it up and pointed to it, laughing nervously. "Oh, nothing's wrong with it. They're all there!" But instead of showing him, Tooth snapped the case shut and flew off to go put it back where it belonged. Unconvinced, Jack stood up and leaned on his staff.

"I don't know what's going on, Jack," Tooth continued soothingly, sitting next to him. "I wish I could help," she consoled him.

Jack peered at her with the slightest of doubts. "It's fine, I just..." Jack paused, looking at his pale hand. "I just wish I knew what they were."

"You'll figure it out, Jack, I know you will." Tooth smiled at him with sad eyes. Jack knew just how much she hated letting him down. But she had to know it wasn't her fault.

"Really, Tooth, it's okay. It was probably just a weird coincidence or something."

Tooth wasn't convinced. "Well, come back when you do figure it out. I'll do what I can."

Jack smiled and put his hand on his shoulder, over Tooth's own hand. He knew her heart would flutter from the cool touch because she was becoming too predictable. He hoped it would make her feel better about not being able to help. "Will do, Tooth. I better go, I have a job to do," he paused looking at her fairies flying around everywhere. "And so do you," he added.

Tooth realized what he said and immediately went back to work. "Sorry, Jack!" She yelled in between orders. "Come back soon!"

Taking that as his cue, Jack nodded to her and flew off out of the palace. He needed to blow off some snow, anyway. He turned himself toward Burgess, called to the wind, and took off without looking back.

At the Tooth Palace, Tooth turned to see that Jack had already left. Sighing, she ran through the orders mindlessly. She was still thinking about Jack's teeth.

There was one tooth missing from the case. But Jack didn't have that tooth still in his mouth. It meant she made a mistake, somewhere. It was impossible, but she was still upset by the fact that it happened. As soon as she had some time to slow down, she'd search for the tooth herself.

Jack's sanity depended on it.


	6. History Repeats

**Chapter 6** \- _History Repeats_

* * *

Cinder stopped in front of the house and stared at the latch to the gate, filled with apprehension. This was going to be her job and her home for a little while, even if it wasn't ideal. She would still have to deal with people, she realized. Despite being around them for hundreds of years, it didn't get any easier to keep meeting new ones. Mentally steeling herself, she knew she couldn't get involved. Not again.

* * *

_The first few years after Pitch saved her were spent almost normally. When he left the cabin, which had happened more often after Cinder had learned to control herself, she frequently visited the forest and its rivers and streams, taking solace in the rushing sounds of the water. The forest had always been a safe haven for her after the incident. The leaves above her filtered the sunlight with a pale green haze once spring had taken its step through the world, and the smell of new flowers filled her nostrils. She hadn't felt this alive... well, ever._

_Stumbling upon a town, Cinder realized that she had no idea how to interact with actual people, since Pitch said that he was not a typical person by any definition, nor had she ever seen anyone else. Remembering Pitch's training, she held herself high and suppressed the raging heat that soared throughout her body. She was focusing so hard on pretending to be normal that she had bumped into another person. Both of them fell backwards after having bumped heads unexpectedly._

_"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to," Cinder instantly apologized, "I didn't see you, I mean─"_

_But in response, all she heard was a girl's laughter. "No, no. Really, it's okay. I was daydreaming again and I just didn't look─"_

_The girl stared at Cinder in confusion._

_"That's some red hair you have. Are you new here?"_

_Cinder opened her mouth then closed it when she realized the truth was probably a bad idea. "Yeah," she began, unsure of herself, "I live a few miles that way." Cinder pointed to the woods behind her._

_"Really? Hmm, I didn't know there was anything out that way," the girl remarked. "I'm Sarah, by the way," the girl shot out her hand eagerly._

_Not understanding the finer points of human interaction, Cinder grabbed Sarah's hand and studied it. "What do I do with your hand?"_

_Sarah made a weird face and began laughing. "Yeah, you're new, alright. Here," she repositioned her hand so that it fit next to Cinder's, with their thumbs overlapping, "you do this. Then you shake it."_

_Cinder made a drawn-out "oh" and nodded. In actuality, she thought it was the strangest custom, but it felt strangely familiar. Similar to a hug, she supposed, but probably less direct. She'd have to inquire about the details at some point._

_"You can let go now," Sarah said, wincing. "You're hand is really warm, are you sick?"_

_"Hmm?" Cinder looked down, noticing that she was still holding Sarah's hand and that her own hand was noticeably warmer than hers. "Oh, I'm sorry... again."_

_"You're a strange one," Sarah eyed her up and down, judging, "but I like you. Come on, let me show you around."_

_After that, Cinder came back day after day, as often as she could when Pitch wasn't around, and played games with Sarah and met others like her. Sarah's "family," as she called it, had several other members, two of which were called a "mother" and a "father." The other two members were her "brother" and "sister," named John and Rebecca. Cinder tried to remember the technicalities, and it took a while before they stuck. She was amazed that they all looked so different from her. She couldn't place it at first, but after asking Sarah about it, Sarah told her it was because they were "older" or "younger" in age. That was a new concept to her, and she decided to ask Pitch about it the next time that she saw him._

_"Pitch?" Cinder was sitting on the makeshift countertop in the cabin, swinging her legs nonchalantly._

_"Hmm?" Pitch was hunched over something at a nearby desk. "What is it, Cinder?"_

_"How old am I?"_

_Pitch seemed startled by the question, because he looked up at her immediately. "Why are you asking me your age?"_

_"Because I don't know what age I am," Cinder furrowed her brows._

_"Where did you learn what age was?" He stood up and walked towards her._

_"I saw people in a nearby village. They were tall and short, and some looked different than others. I didn't know what to call it," she lied feebly, "but 'old' seemed to be the right word. So I figured I'd ask you."_

_Pitch sighed heavily and put his hand to his head. He looked as if he was choosing his words carefully. "Age is something that escapes you and me, Cinder."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"You'll find out for yourself," was all he could offer in answer. "Now I've work to be done. I'll be back in a few days. And stay away from those townspeople," he warned._

Make me, _Cinder mentally stuck out her tongue. Instead, she frowned nodded silently. "Take care," she added as he disappeared into the shadows._

_This altercation, however, did not stop her from becoming closer to the townspeople. She even spent the night at Sarah's house a few times. That was when she learned about food. When "dinner" was called, all of the kids were really excited, so she went along with it. Weird, hot mush and mash was settled on a flat circle in front of her and every other person. She stared at it quizzically while the others looked at her expectantly. Biting her lip, she picked up a pronged stick that lay beside the circle and stabbed the stuff on the right. It was soft, and the pronged stick went right through it. The entire family had laughed at her. _That's not how you eat mashed potatoes,_ they had said in between fits of tearful laughter. Ashamed and red in the face, she forgot about the heat in her body and accidentally blackened the pronged stick. Later, she learned that it was called a "fork" and the circle was a "plate." After watching the others and learning to do it properly, she took her first bite. It was amazing! How come Pitch and she never ate dinner? As it turned out, there were other times to eat, too. Three times in the day, in fact, were "meals" as Sarah described it._

_Despite her queer nature, the family fell in love with Cinder. She in turn loved playing with Rebecca, the youngest of the children in the family. The little blond girl always had a smile and a laugh peeking through her eyes, and she was fascinated by Cinder. The first time they met, Rebecca pulled Cinder's hair, asking if it was real. Incredulous and almost hurt, Cinder exclaimed that of course it was her real hair. Rebecca nodded a childish nod, the kind of nod that says they heard you but don't believe you. Cinder caught on to that quickly, and began to mock Rebecca, who mocked her back until they fell into giggle fits. _

_One day, the father came up to Cinder._

_"It seems you spend all your time here with us. You said you lived out a few miles in the woods, did you?"_

_Cinder nodded, wondering if she was in trouble or something. The father did not normally talk to her._

_"And your folks don't seem to feed you much, either," the man surmised._

_Cinder shook her head, afraid to speak the truth._

_"Ah, well," he clapped his hands together in finality, "how would you like to live with us? We've got the room. I'm sure Sarah or Rebecca would be glad to let you bunk permanently."_

_Cinder's heart flipped, hitting every bone in her rib cage with excitement. She could be a part of a family. The naive redhead agreed and ran back to the cabin to gather anything she wanted to keep._

_"What are you doing?" Pitch demanded when he saw her frantically searching drawers and tossing random articles onto the bed._

_"I'm part of a family, Pitch! They asked if I would want to, and I said yes! And, oh Pitch! They're so nice, I wish they could see you, maybe then they would─"_

_"You're what?" Pitch asked, raising his voice._

_That's when Cinder noticed the change in atmosphere. "What's wrong, Pitch? I can still do jobs for you when I'm ready, like you said. They don't have to know about my powers."_

_Pitch's yellow eyes flared. "Cinder, this won't be possible for you."_

_Cinder's countenance fell. "What? Why?"_

_"Remember how I said that age doesn't affect us?"_

_Cinder nodded slowly, tears forming in her eyes._

_"You cannot grow old, Cinder," Pitch explained in a low voice. "You'll never have wrinkles. You'll never get taller. You'll never grow at all!"_

_Cinder's tears pooled at the inner corners of her eyes despite her best efforts to hide them. "They won't care! They want me there!"_

_"But they will never love you."_

_"What do you even know about love?"_

_"Cinder..." Pitch growled in warning, but she didn't want to listen._

_"No! I'm done, Pitch. You've kept me cooped up in this cabin forever without being able to do anything, and I am bored to death!"_

_"Choose your words carefully, Cinder." Pitch's voice did not change._

_"Forget it! They wouldn't be able to see you anyway. Maybe if I spend enough time with them I'll forget about you, too!"_

_Pitch snapped. "You can _never be one of them!" _He took her shoulders and shook her. "They will cast you out, forsake you, _burn _you!"_

_"Choose your words carefully," Cinder repeated with a sneer._

_"Why, you..." Pitch's grip tightened._

_Then Pitch's power hit her. The fear she felt in that moment was nearly as intense as when she saw him the first time, before she awoke in the cabin. Her heart raced and the tears flowed freely down her cheeks before she knew what to do. Her weak knees gave out beneath her and she vaguely felt herself fall to the floor. A dark haze filled the room and Cinder began to cough and gag, crying harder. Agonizingly slow, she began to gather her thoughts and ran awkwardly out of the cabin with her cloak clutched in her hand._

_"... and don't say I didn't warn you!"_

_But for almost ten years, Cinder hadn't thought about him in the slightest. She settled well into her new family, and they cherished her greatly. But as time went on, things changed. Sarah's brother John moved out of the house and built a new one, with a new girl that they said he "married." The others were sad to see him go, but they visited often. The parents became old and needed more help around the house. Rebecca grew taller until she was the same height as Cinder. Sarah had even mentioned getting married, herself. Cinder was petrified and didn't understand what to do. Everything was changing around her, why? Why?_

_Eventually, the townspeople caught on that something strange was going on with the Walker's recent addition, Cinder. She didn't look a day older than when she stepped foot into the village, but all of them had changed. Not to mention that the girl almost never wore warm clothing when it was winter. _

_Cinder was having another panic attack in her bedroom that she had once shared with Rebecca and Sarah, which now Sarah had left. Cinder's hands were clutched to her head tightly, woven through her red hair in distress. Rebecca ran in and grabbed her hands, yanking them away from her face._

_"Cinder, what's wrong?" Rebecca's matured voice clattered inside Cinder's skull._

_"Get away," Cinder whimpered quietly._

_"What?"_

_"I said get away!" Cinder yelled, pushing Rebecca away. "Go. Grow up and get married and leave me here!" _

_Rebecca stifled a laugh because of the circumstances. "I'm not getting married, Cinder. I'm only thirteen," she placated slowly._

_"But at least you're growing," Cinder spat venomously. "I can't ever do that."_

_"Because you're done growing, silly," Rebecca sat down beside her._

_"No, I can't grow. That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Cinder finally let it out. She let out everything she knew about herself, with Rebecca listening incredulously. At the end of her tale, Rebecca stood up, holding out her hand._

_"We should get you some help," Rebecca put her hand to Cinder's forehead, "I think you're running a high fever," she added as she shook her hand, clearly burned._

_Cinder stared at her in shock. "No, no, no! I'm fine, I told you everything! It's all true!"_

_"Oh, stop, Cinder," Rebecca shook her head, smiling. "Come on, let's at least get you out of the room, it's too dark in here."_

_"No!" Cinder lit her palm with a fire she hadn't used in years. "See? It's not dark, I don't need to leave! Please, just let me stay!"_

_Rebecca shrieked and fell backwards, eyes widened in fear. "What is─ Get away! Get away from me!" She pleaded as she scrambled backwards, clumsily tripping over furniture. "Witch!" she screamed as she ran out of the house._

_Cinder ran after her until she got to the doorway. What have I done? Tears were about to fall down her cheeks when they evaporated almost instantly. Mystified, she looked around and saw that her fireball had caught the corner of a blanket on fire, and it was quickly spreading its unnaturally intense heat._

_"Witch!"_

_"She-devil!"_

_"Look what the witch did!"_

_The rest of her time in the village passed before her eyes like a horrible nightmare. They tied back her hands with rough twine and took her to the center of the village after the fire had been taken care of. Her family stood before her, eyes ablaze with disbelief._

_"How could you? After all we've done for you! All these years..." the old mother sobbed._

_"Cinder..." Sarah's voice fell to the ground, unable to utter a single sound._

_Many hurtful comments were tossed over Cinder's head as she awaited her fate. Her tears soaked her face and her hair stuck to it and she could do nothing to move it out of the way. Not that she cared. She was being disgraced and disowned from every corner of her consciousness and her chest heaved in a fight to keep her aware of her surroundings. It didn't do much good, however, because she was only vaguely aware that she was suddenly being dragged, her face against the dirt. Small pebbles and beads of sand stuck to her face where her tears continued to fall, and some of the larger rocks cut into her face, spindling blood into the mix._

_"Drown her!" were the only words she could make out in her present state of mind. Numbed by physical and emotional abandonment, she was dimly aware that her feet, her knees, her waist, were all getting wetter by the instant. When the water crept up to her neck, her eyes widened when she realized it._

Pitch was right...

_After her head passed under the water, Cinder clamped her mouth shut and tried to swim across with her hands tied. She didn't want it to end like this. It was harder than it looked, but she managed to bring her head up after a few seconds. She had made it surprisingly far, thanks to the current, but staying afloat wasn't enough. Struggling against the twine that held her hands, she desperately tried to warm them. The water made it difficult, but eventually the water around her became a boiling cauldron and the twine weakened. Snapping her hands free, she flailed and kicked until she could grab onto a rock and pull herself to shore. _

_After a few days of crying, panicking, more crying, and lashing out violently against many of the trees surrounding her, she made it back to the cabin. Not that family's cabin she thought was her home, but the cabin that Pitch had taken her to, the cabin in which Pitch had nursed her back to health. _

_And she had turned her back on him. And what did she get in return? People who turned their back on her, which now did not sadden her, but infuriate her beyond belief. She swore to herself that she would never be close with another human again._

_Heating herself up enough to dry her clothes, she searched the drawers for something else to wear. She was still wearing the clothing Sarah had made for her recently and it made her seethe every time she looked down. Thankfully, she found a separate set of clothing that she never took with her and put it on lazily, knowing it would still fit, even after ten years._

_"I'll admit that took longer than I expected." An achingly familiar voice made its presence known to her._

_Letting out a large wail without any tears─ for she had used them all─ she ran to Pitch and wrapped her arms around him for the second time in her short, antagonizing life._

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." her voiced trails in fits of ugly noises she didn't know she could make. When Cinder composed herself again, she cleared her throat and looked up at Pitch._

_"Fear is powerful, isn't it..." his voice trailed off with the hint of a smile on his lips. "Are you ready for your first job?"_

_Any regret, sadness, or anger that had consumed her in the past few days dissipated and was replaced by a fierce ambition. When Pitch offered his hand, she took it without hesitation._

* * *

Presently, the entirety of the memory had only spanned the few seconds it took for Cinder to unlatch the gate and walk up to the front door of her new job.

_Compose yourself, Cinder. That was the past. It's not of any use to you now. It'll only give you more panic attacks, and you're weird enough as it is!_

Knocking without a trace of the anxiety she felt earlier, she stood straight and checked her hair in the glass window in the door. Her ring caught a glint of sunlight off the reflection and she blinked in response. Before she could finish pushing down the last flyaway hair, the door opened. A relatively young woman, possibly in her late thirties, answered the door, her glasses low on her nose.

Pushing up her glasses, she spoke. "Hello?"

"Hi," Cinder's voice was as cheerful as she could muster, "I'm Cinder. The sitter?"

The woman laughed sweetly. "Oh, right. I'm Mrs. Bennett," she introduced herself as she held out her hand. Cinder took it carefully and shook it. "Please, come in, come in!" She waved Cinder into the house. "Are you warm enough? That sweater doesn't look like it's doing a very good job."

Cinder smirked. She sort of figured she wouldn't pick the right sort of clothing for the weather. It didn't matter to her, but clearly it mattered to others. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Well, I guess I'll show you the house, then."

Cinder's mind wandered off as she looked around the home close at Mrs. Bennett's heels. The pictures on the walls throughout the hallway depicted who she assumed were Mrs. Bennett's nephew and niece, or old pictures of her kids, maybe. As Mrs. Bennett spoke on and on, Cinder caught the piece where she was shown her room, the guest room, at the end.

"... and that should be all. Did you have any questions?" Mrs. Bennett implored her, snapping Cinder back to attention.

Cinder was about to answer when something clung to her pant leg. Looking down, she was beyond shock to find that a little blond girl was lazily hugging her.

"Mommy, you're really warm..." the girl blinked and rubbed her eyes, clearly just waking up.

_Rebecca?_

"That's because you're not hugging mommy, sweetie." Mrs. Bennett explained in a similar voice.

The little girl opened her eyes and blinked slowly, looking up at two faces. Cinder was even more astonished to find that the girl had light green eyes like her. She realized that Rebecca's eyes had been brown and sighed with relief.

"Oh," the little girl backed away sheepishly. "I'm sorry... uh..."

"This is Cinder, Sophie. Remember when I told you about my trip I'm taking next week?" Mrs. Bennett asked the little girl named Sophie.

Cinder snapped her head to stare at Mrs. Bennett, incredulous. _This is a babysitting job?_ Thankfully, her face deadpanned before the mother looked back at her again.

"That's Sophie, my youngest, who's six. There's also my son, Jamie, but he's with friends today. He should be home tonight. Oh, where are my manners? I'm sorry. I've got a trip that the company I work for wants to take us on. It shouldn't be more than a week, really, and you can always call me or one of the neighbors if something goes wrong. I've told you everything, right?"

Cinder was hardly listening. She was mortified. She was supposed to take care of not one, but _two_, kids for an entire _week?_ This was not what she thought she was getting into. But Mrs. Bennett's face pleaded sadly in a subtle way that Cinder picked up on. She was about to politely decline when Sophie piped up, tugging on Cinder's sleeve.

"Will she play tea parties with me?" Her excited voice reminded Cinder of Rebecca again and fear gripped her throat.

"Well, that's up to her," Mrs. Bennett laughed lightly, "so you'll have to ask her, dear."

Sophie frowned as she ran behind her mother's legs, suddenly shy.

"Now, now, Sophie," Mrs. Bennett picked up her daughter and plopped her in front of Cinder. "You need to get to know her, first. She won't be that bad." She started walking away and Cinder spun her head between Sophie and Mrs. Bennett, doing a double-take.

_Shows what you know,_ Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"W-wait! Are you really sure you want a stranger watching your kids? I mean, really, I could be anyone! Some random drunkard!" Cinder half-heartedly joked.

Mrs. Bennett's laugh ended in a heavy sigh. "I've tried reaching all of their other babysitters, and they're all so busy! I really needed someone," she paused as she tapped her fingers on the kitchen counter, "and Jamie just isn't old enough."

Cinder bit her lip and cursed herself silently; she was going to hate herself for this.

"Then you've found someone," she acquiesced.

"Oh, thank you so much!" A tension visibly left Mrs. Bennett's shoulders. "I'll leave $150 for you, I'm sorry it isn't much, but it's really the best I can do until I get back. Then I can pay you the full amount."

Cinder was confused about one detail, however. "Wasn't this a semi-permanent _house-sitting_ position?"

Mrs. Bennett nodded her head ruefully. "It would be if I had the money to pay someone full time. Think of this coming week as a... separate trial run," she tried to justify it. It didn't help Cinder's understanding, but at least she tried.

Then the phone rang. Mrs. Bennett excused herself to answer it. Her countenance fell as she frantically searched for and grabbed a pencil and paper, scrawling quickly. "Mhm... okay... no, no, I don't think that's an issue... Yes... Okay. Sure, I'll head out as soon as I can."

Cinder's heart fell approximately one hundred feet, she was pretty sure.

"Looks like they've moved up the trip's departure for weather concerns," she informed Cinder, worried. "Do you think you could just... start now?" Mrs. Bennett bit her lip. "I can take you to your place and help you grab some of your things─"

"Oh, no, you don't need to do that. I've pretty much got everything I need in my bag."

Mrs. Bennett frowned at the worn leather backpack slouching against the wall by the door. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, really!" Cinder tried to assure Mrs. Bennett.

"Can we go play, now?" Sophie tugged at Cinder's sleeve and stared with big, round, pouting eyes. Before she could answer, she was dragged into the living room by the six-year-old. Before they disappeared into the other room, Cinder caught Mrs. Bennett covering her laugher with her hand. Cinder rolled her eyes. _Guess I just have to go along with it... Ugh._

A "tea party," as it turned out, did not have real tea involved. Much to Cinder's chagrin, it didn't involve much of anything real. _You learn something new everyday... apparently._

Nevertheless, when Sophie handed Cinder the empty plastic pink cup, she pretended to drink from it. Some sort of moral code inside her told her it would be rude and insulting if she didn't play along.

They played at this for a few hours, which astonished Cinder. There was a small break in between, however, when Mrs. Bennett came in to say a long goodbye.

"I don't want you to go!" Sophie insisted stubbornly.

"Sweetie, you have to be a big girl now," Mrs. Bennett placated softly. "Mommy wants you to make friends with Cinder and play nice with her and Jamie when he comes back, okay? School begins the next day, you know."

"I know, I know," Sophie pouted as she sat back down by Cinder. "I'll be good."

"Goodbye, sweetie! Tell Jamie I'm sorry I couldn't stay and to take care!" Mrs. Bennett's voice slowly faded and stopped as the front door closed. "I love you!"

An awkward silence ensued, where Cinder and Sophie would look around the room, at each other separately, around the room again, and occasionally lock eyes.

Cinder took a huge breath and puffed her cheeks, about to say something, when Sophie reached up with her two pointer fingers and popped Cinder's cheeks, releasing the air in a loud _pop_ which sent Sophie into huge giggle fits. Cinder couldn't help letting a smile escape her lips. _Where did she learn that?_ Realizing what she was doing, she deadpanned again and stared at Sophie.

Sophie was still giggling when she sat herself up again and looked at Cinder. "What are you staring at me for? Didn't your mommy tell you that it's rude to stare at people?"

Smirking, Cinder closed the distance between their faces instantly. "Nope," she popped the _p_, "And what are you going to do about it?" She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Tickle fight!" Sophie yelled suddenly, tackling the unsuspecting Cinder to the ground and running her fingers sporadically over the sides of Cinder's ribs.

Cinder hadn't been tickled in a long time, and she thought that the panic would rise up again. But instead, she was laughing uncontrollably. For a six-year-old, she knew how to tickle. Scrambling out from under Sophie, Cinder retaliated by pinning her to the ground and repeated the same procedure. Sophie was again in an uncontrollable giggle fit. After they had their fill, they returned to Sophie's tea party.

After a little while, Cinder looked up and was shocked to see that the world outside had grown darker. Looking at the clock, she swore silently.

"Hey," she beckoned to Sophie across the table, "wasn't your brother supposed to come home before it got dark?"

Sophie gasped as she realized it, too. "Brother's in _trouble_," she laughed evilly. Maybe Cinder liked this girl after all.

"Where is he? You can show me where to go and we can go pick him up ourselves," Cinder suggested. Despite not being directly in touch with humans all that much, she knew that she couldn't just leave a six-year-old child home alone.

"Okay!" Sophie chimed and pulled Cinder's sleeve toward the door.


	7. Unexpected Sights

**A/N: So I thought you guys would like to know that I'll be updating twice a week now because (a) I feel once a week is too slow for this type of story and (b) I think more interest will catch on if it's seen as fairly active. Hopefully even a review will come out of this change? I guess I'll see, but it'd be lovely of you to let me know how I'm doing. ^_^**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7** \- _Unexpected Sights_

* * *

Tooth hadn't helped Jack at all with his dilemma, but at least she had been more worried than North. Jack had been frustrated about the entire village ordeal and the other Guardians weren't much help. To take his mind off of things, he decided to visit Jamie again. Whether or not he would tell Jamie what was going on was another story: one he wasn't sure about anymore.

Whatever happened to him, whatever had flashed through his head was overbearingly familiar. But Jack knew he had never seen anything like it. It was impossible for a cloak to float in the air, let alone over a pond on fire. That part he didn't want to understand. But what tugged at his heart more was the sinister man with the yellow eyes on his shoulder behind Jack. Jack knew that man, he was sure. But at the same time, no memory of that man existed.

That's why he had gone to Tooth; he wanted to find answers (after dealing with a barely-helpful North). He thought maybe there were more memories that weren't salient at the time he needed them. Tooth had been willing enough to let him try to look, but when he actually wanted to look in the case, Tooth had snatched it away from him. Jack knew she would never hide anything from him, but her behavior wasn't saying the same.

Nothing added up. Why weren't the Guardians more worried about the fire guy? Why has the Man in the Moon not said anything? _Then again, he was silent to me for three hundred years. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't hear from him for three hundred more._ Jack frowned.

But he couldn't let that get to him. Right now, all he wanted was a friend. And some fun.

_Yeah, fun sounds about right_, he smirked.

Flying down toward the pond, he saw that the kids were already there. They were separated into two small huddles, about to start another hockey game. He snuck up to the group with Jamie and the twins whispering closely about how to crush the other team. Jack casually leaned in with his arms around their backs.

"Any room for me on the team?" he asked smoothly.

"Jack!" Jamie exclaimed above a whisper. Then he looked toward the other team to make sure they hadn't heard or looked over. "Just in time, you'll be our secret weapon," he smiled mischievously.

Jack nodded and listened to their plan. He was to stay up in a nearby tree and wait until one of the others passed the puck that way. When they did, the opposite team was supposed to be confused as to why they were sending the puck to an empty part of the pond. That was when Jack was going to pop out and score a goal on the unsuspecting Cupcake, whom they were pretty sure was going to be the team's goalie. On break, Jack flew up high and landed on a tree branch overlooking the other team's half of the pond. He aimed his staff downward, acting like it was a hockey stick.

But when the other team broke, something changed. Cupcake walked up to the halfway point and stood defensively, with Monty a little ways behind. He still looked fairly fragile, but from what Jack had been told, Monty had become really good with the puck. At the goal, which was separated by two rocks on the ice, stood Pippa, as smug as could be.

Jack narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Jamie, who was staring at Pippa in disbelief. He looked over at Jack and smiled, nodding. _We've got this_, his look seemed to say.

_I'm sure you do,_ Jack smirked and shook his head. Knowing Jamie, Jack figured he was going to try to take on Pippa by himself to show off. Jack laughed and watched to see what would happen.

One of the twins walked over with the puck, holding it above the space between Jamie and Cupcake. When he dropped it, the game began fiercely. Cupcake had taken the puck and was already toward the goal where the other twin shook fearfully. Cupcake shot the puck with amazing speed and the puck flew past the goalie and into the snow bank behind him. Laughing fiendishly, Pippa pointed and fell backwards. Jamie spun toward her with a mean look and swore under his breath. Jack was itching to plop down in the middle and take the puck away himself, but Jamie was still counting on him.

Once the puck was retrieved, Jamie and Cupcake stood at the center again. Jamie looked a little more fearful, but just as determined. Jack leaned forward excitedly, waiting for his chance.

By some miracle, Jamie was able to take the puck away from Cupcake and shoot down the other half of the pond. He passed it to one twin, who tried to circle around Monty. However, Monty was able to capture the puck and make his way to the other goal. He was about to pass it to Cupcake when Jamie shot out in front of her and stole the puck away again. Pippa steeled herself in front of the goal and stared at Jamie, intent on stopping the puck.

But instead, Jamie shot the puck upward into a nearby tree. Pippa knitted her brows in confusion and watched as the puck was about to disappear. She began to laugh and yell to Jamie that he was a bad shot and couldn't aim, when the puck flew past her into the goal. Gasping with surprise, she stared back at where Jamie had shot the puck. Incredulous, her jaw dropped as she saw Jack Frost floating with a devilish grin painted on his face.

"Jamie Bennett, no fair!" Pippa shouted indignantly. "You had an extra person on your team!"

"He's a spirit, so technically he doesn't count!" Jamie shouted back matter-of-factly.

"Hey!" Jack flew down and knocked Jamie's head with his staff.

"Sorry, Jack," Jamie laughed as he held his head from the sudden hit.

"He does too count, and you cheated," Pippa crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on. I'll switch this time," Jack put his arm around Pippa and gave her an apologetic look. Jamie knew Jack hadn't meant anything by it, but a spark of jealousy flickered in the back of his mind.

Pippa agreed and they went back to playing, with Jack openly on the other team. He gripped his staff upside down, with the curled part acting as the bottom of the hockey stick. When he didn't have the puck, however, he was using his magic to make the ice more slippery in certain places, causing the other players to lose control.

"Hey, you're cheating!" Jamie copied Pippa's voice while laughing.

"I don't count, remember?" Jack copied Jamie in a joking voice. He laughed back and deftly tossed a snowball at Jamie, knocking him over and sending the puck toward Jack. He stopped the puck and leaned on his staff, looking triumphant.

"That didn't stop you before, did it?" Jamie asked as Jack ran over the ice with the puck past him.

"And it won't now!" Jack tapped his staff back and forth, controlling the puck with ease past the other players. Stopping just before the goal, the goalie became focused. Instead of sending the puck through the goal, he passed it to the left, where previously no one had been. Pippa skated by and shot the puck through the goal with the goalie turned toward Jack still.

They played for a few more goals until it began to grow dark. Hardly anyone had noticed until they saw that the sun was almost entirely disguised by the clouds and mountains in the distance. Saying their goodbyes and groaning about school starting up soon, they left slowly. Pippa had stayed behind, talking with the others about the assignment that was due soon.

"Have you done the writing assignment yet, Jamie?" Pippa asked.

"There was an assignment?" Jamie's eyes widened as he remembered.

"I guess that answers your question," Jack remarked with a laugh.

Pippa sighed and shook her head. "Really, Jamie? Are you going to want any help with it?"

"No, I think I can get it done by tomorrow," Jamie declined.

Pippa frowned and Jack noticed she looked a little dejected.

"Alright, well, you can call me if you need help." Pippa paused, waiting for Jamie's response.

"I don't need help. I can totally do it on my own." Jamie sounded offended. "I'm not that dumb."

"I didn't say you were dumb," Pippa replied with another frown, but still she waited.

"Well, uh," Jamie stuttered, feeling awkward, "I guess you should get going."

"W-What are you going to do?" Pippa asked, eager to stay a little longer.

"I'm gonna stay with Jack for a little bit," Jamie answered.

Jack noticed that Pippa still looked sad, but she smiled anyway.

"Okay, see you at school with that assignment done, Jamie!"

"You know it. Bye!" Jamie waved as Pippa began walking up the hill.

After Pippa was out of sight, Jamie turned to Jack. "Why is she always so angry at me? I was just trying to have fun, she didn't have to go and frown the entire time."

"Well, you might have been a little rude," Jack suggested.

"How?" Jamie looked confused.

"You did call her a cheater," Jack started, "and you've said no to her twice now."

"What?" Jamie looked to where Pippa had disappeared. "But she didn't ask me out, did she?"

Jack laughed at Jamie's cluelessness. "She was inviting herself to help you out with your homework."

"That's not very romantic," Jamie commented.

Jack used his staff to create a heap of snow above Jamie's head and let it all fall on him. He laughed again as Jamie stuck his head back out and yelled indignantly.

"Come on, I think it's time you went home, too," Jack said after the laughter died.

"Wait," Jamie took Jack's sleeve, "what happened at the Pole the other night, Jack? What were the lights about?"

Jack stopped in his tracks and inhaled sharply. What was he going to tell Jamie? Turning around, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, just North thinking there was something wrong. It was nothing really, I just forgot to bring snow to one area and the other Guardians were flipping out on me."

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "The Northern Lights just for a little irresponsibility? Do they really know you, Jack?" He laughed at the absurdity.

Jack laughed back nervously. He had been thinking the same thing recently, but didn't want to admit it. He hoped it was just them trying to get used to there being a new Guardian around. "Come on, I'll walk with you."

They had walked up the hill exchanging ideas for pranks. Jack was about to promise that he'd come back soon to practice some of the more tricky ideas when they reached the top of the hill and onto the side of the road.

Jack halted. "Who's that with Sophie?"

Sophie jumped excitedly on the other side of the road and pointed to Jamie, then turned to the girl holding her hand. The girl nodded and looked over. Green eyes peered straight through him, but he was used to not being seen. Something about her look was different, however. She was still looking right in his direction, like she sensed something. Her red hair fell in her eyes and she blinked. Her face changed then, her features widening in consternation for the briefest moment. As soon as Jack noticed it, her countenance deadpanned. She looked to both sides of the street and began to be dragged by Sophie across, closing the distance between them and Jack and Jamie.

"I have no idea, maybe a babysitter?" Jamie shrugged.

"Hey, brother!" Sophie let go of the girl's hand and jumped up and down. "Where've you been? You're in trouble with Cinder!"

"Cinder?"

"You must be Jamie," the girl spoke up. Her red hair was illuminated by the sunset off to the west. Her sweater she was wearing looked ill-fit for the weather, especially now that it was getting colder with the sun almost gone. "I'm Cinder. It's nice to meet you."

"I thought Mom wasn't leaving for another week!"

"She told me to give you her regards, it got moved up and she had to leave," Cinder explained factually.

Jack leaned on his staff and said to Jamie, "Gee, I thought she'd be older. But I guess now we don't have to go easy on her."

"Excuse me? And you are?" Cinder looked to Jack with an astonished look.

Time stopped and Jack's jaw fell. _She can see me?_

"Are you one of Jamie's older friends?" Cinder asked again, insistent. She raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.

Before Jack could answer, Jamie stammered incredulously. "You can see Jack?"

"Finally someone gave me a name! And yes I can," Cinder answered. "Hello, Jack."

"Uh..." Jack was still staring at this girl in front of him. She must be his age, she was almost his height. There's no way someone her age could believe in Jack Frost, was there? "Hi..."

He looked down and saw that she had held out her hand toward him. She didn't look like she wanted to shake hands, though. Jack hesitated before holding out his hand. There was an intense heat in the moment, but Jack didn't think anything of it.

Before his hand came into contact with Cinder's, Jamie spoke up, breaking the gesture away.

"How are you able to see Jack?"

Cinder looked at Jamie in confusion. "Well, it's not because he's right in front of me," she said sarcastically.

"But older people aren't able to see Jack Frost! Why can you?"

"Jack Frost?" Cinder repeated skeptically. "You're joking. You're thirteen, right? I don't think fairy tales are a thing at that point."

"Hey!" Jack frowned, hurt.

"I'm fourteen, thank you," Jamie corrected her, "and I'm telling the truth! This is Jack Frost."

"I can show you," Jack added, holding out his staff to show her.

"Nice walking stick," she commented, ignoring his offer. "Come on, Jamie. I came because I was worried that you hadn't gotten home yet. I can't get in trouble with your mom just yet."

"Wait, just let him show you. Please," Jamie pleaded. Jack tapped Jamie on his back with his staff and winked. _Don't worry about it, I have an idea_, he thought.

"Let's get going, I'll make whatever you want for dinner," Cinder turned back toward the road. "Nice to meet you, _Jack_," she added at last, emphasizing his name.

"Ditto," Jack waved as he walked back down to the pond before flying away. He landed on the small cliff that jutted out over the far side of the pond and sat in deep thought.

_She can see me, she can see me, she can see me!_ His thoughts raced with a mixture of disbelief and excitement. Someone his age could see him for once in three hundred years. Of course, kids seeing him were one thing. That was his center and purpose. He held that prized and above all. It filled him with the sense that everything was okay, and that becoming a Guardian was the right thing to do. _She can see me!_ But someone who was his age that could see him─ and possibly believed─ that was different. It was new and frightening, but intriguing and curiosity filled him with a sort of elation and he wanted to know more. _She can see me!_ It also gave him a reason to forget about recent events, and for that he was glad. Whatever the black sand on the globe meant, it could wait. _She can see me!_

* * *

Later that night, he came back to Burgess after his regular rounds of snowstorms across wherever he fancied. Calling to the wind, Jack was lowered down to the roof of Jamie's house. He'd been here many times before, a long time ago. After Pitch had been defeated, he saw Jamie a few times until he was called off to begin his duties. He hated leaving again, but he promised Jamie he would be back. Jack never imagined he would have returned four long years later. He would have returned sooner, and it hurt him that he couldn't have done so. Before doing what he set out to do in the first place, he walked over to Jamie's window and knocked, waiting patiently.

Jamie woke up with a start and Jack laughed at his stunned face. Jamie ran over and opened the window with ease.

"What the hell, Jack? I've got school tomorrow, you know that."

"Aw, Jamie," Jack pleaded playfully, "I just wanted to say hi, is that too much?"

Jamie laughed and motioned Jack inside, but Jack held up his hand. He still had other plans. He tilted his head toward the guest room's window and smirked impishly.

"Really, Jack? Now? It's late. I thought you meant we'd start tomorrow night."

"Suit yourself. You don't have to do anything. I'm just curious. We'll have to be sneakier now we know she can see me."

"What are you planning on doing? Watching her sleep? That's creepy, Jack." Jamie laughed at Jack's incredulous look. Recovering from Jamie's comment, Jack shot ice into Jamie's room and ice covered the floor instantaneously.

Jamie sighed. "I guess I deserved that. Oh well, at least it'll be a great ice show in the morning."

"I'll make sure to get tickets," Jack assured him with a bow. "And my work is done," he said as he fell backwards off the roof. However, he knew Jamie knew he wouldn't fall, and popped back up, only his head being visible from the window. "You go to sleep, alright?"

"Let me see if I can make it to my bed without falling, and I'll try." Jamie tried to skate over to his bed, wavering unsteadily.

Jack made sure Jamie made it without hurting himself and waved as he walked over to the other side of the roof. Standing over the window's roof, he looked over. To his surprise, the window was wide open and the curtains were flapping in the wind. He hopped down onto the window sill and peeked in between the curtains. He furrowed his brows when he saw Sophie sleeping on the far side of a bed that was pushed up against the window. However, what caught his attention more was the fact that the blankets were tossed, revealing the empty second half of the bed. Confused, he walked around to the other windows to make sure he hadn't just gone to Sophie's room instead. But he found all the other rooms to be empty. He walked back to the sill and stepped inside on the bed, next to Sophie.

_Where is this girl? She left the kids alone! I know I'm irresponsible, but seriously? _Looking around, he found clothes discarded in the corner by the closet. They looked to be Cinder's, but Jack knew better than to go through people's clothing... mostly. The room was noticeably warmer despite the window being wide open and it was hot enough that Jack was a little bothered by it. He turned to go back out the window and watch over the house until whenever this girl came back and saw lights shining outside. Frowning he ran and perched himself on the sill once more, peering into the night sky.

The Northern Lights were flaring, showering intense light all over the town. Again.

_This better be important._

* * *

"Are you serious, North?" Jack threw his arms wide in annoyance. There was another town he "didn't send snow to" and North said it was worse this time.

However, all of the Guardians were gathered at the North Pole. Jack knew that more sand must have been found on the globe, enough to make them worried. _About time_.

"What's wrong, Frost?" Bunny snickered. "You mad that North's catchin' you bein' a bludger?"

"I─ what?"

"Jack, are you slacking off on your work?" Tooth asked with concern laced in her words.

"No, far from it. I've been busy since I went to the village with the house on fire─"

"Fire?" Bunny interrupted. "That place was on fire? All because you didn't make it snow?" Now he was being a jerk.

"No!" Jack was furious. "The fire melted my snow," he began to explain what happened, leaving out the attack that happened at the end. Tooth gave him a sad look, and he knew she didn't approve of him not telling the others. They deserved to know, but Jack wouldn't tell Bunny if he was the last living thing on Earth.

"I called you here because fire is back," North put his hand on Jack's shoulder apologetically. "And fire is bad. Bunny, you go with Jack."

Bunny dropped his boomerang he had been tossing. "What? Are you kidding me, North? I don't think it's a very good idea havin' us workin' together."

"Do not care," North waved him off, "we must find source of black sand. Bring back fire maker if you can."

"I'll do that and Frosty here can take out the fire," Bunny replied.

"Scared of a little campfire, are you, Kangaroo?"

"Now, see? There he goes again. I told you, I'm a rabbit, mate," Bunny's voice deepened in warning.

"Sure," Jack took the portal globe out of North's hands and whispered the name of the town. "Come on, we don't have time to argue."

Realizing the frozen idiot was right, Bunny nodded and hopped through the portal after Jack. They appeared on the ground so that Bunny wouldn't fall from the air, and the snow was practically slush. Bunny frowned as the wet stuff coated his feet and clumped his fur.

The bright orange light shone intensely over the ridge in front of them. Bunny clambered up the slippery slope cautiously while Jack easily flew up to the top, smirking at Bunny's apparent distress. He turned to look over the situation just as Bunny got to the top and stared at the village below. Both of their jaws dropped when they saw that the fire had already engulfed half the town.

"North wasn't kidding," Jack murmured in frightened awe.

"So," Bunny started suddenly, "you handle the fire and I'll handle that fire demon?"

Jack shook his head. "My ice can't melt this fire. It's too hot."

"Even for you, mate?"

Jack nodded in defeat. "Best we can do is save whoever we can, and get out of here."

"What about the thing that did this?"

Jack frowned, remembering what happened to him last time. "Whoever finds it: good luck to them," he said as he flew down and ran through the town while Bunny stared after him quizzically. He didn't know what Jack meant, but they didn't have time to bicker. Children were in those fires.

After an hour of constant stress and excessive heat, the two Guardians believed that they had gotten out every kid that they could. The adults caught in the fires were harder to free, but they were able to get them out through indirect means. They tore down walls where they were weak, they led the children in between the flames to grab their parents, and they tossed blankets on the flames to stop the flames momentarily. Intermittently, Jack kept trying his magic, and none of it was working still. He met Bunny in the middle of the town and they ran through the list of houses they had been through.

Before finishing the list, they heard a scream.

"We missed one!" Bunny was already off, focusing on where the sound came from.

"You get the kid, I have an idea!" Jack yelled. He kicked off the ground and flew above the city. Summoning all the power he could muster, He gathered as much snow above the town as he could. He was high enough that it wasn't melting, but the mental capacity needed was putting a lot of physical strain on him, weakening his arms with each new snowflake he formed in the air.

Then he saw something coming for him: another fireball. Releasing his power, the snow fell heavily toward the town. The closer it got however, the more it began to melt and turn into rain. That was his plan, but he hadn't been sure it would work. Thankfully, the snow he created turned into rain and began to dissipate the fires below.

Jack would celebrate later, though, because he had to dodge the incoming attack. He ducked just in time, the fireball blazing just above his head. Jack swore if any hairs were singed, he'd be upset because then Bunny would have new material with which to taunt him. But when he looked back to where the attack had come from, there was nothing there. He looked around in confusion. _Not again_.

"You again," a deep, multifaceted voice growled behind him. Heat was escaping from their words and giving Jack goose bumps.

He whirled around and stared, the cloaked figure floated at the same height, only ten feet away. His stomach fell as he was reminded of the floating cloak from the strange attack of memories. Here that cloak was, except there was someone underneath it. Cautiously, he held his staff in front of him.

"You did this," Jack could hardly contain the venom in his own voice.

"Do you like it?" The voice laughed.

"You could have killed people!"

There was a slight pause. "Fear is powerful, isn't it?"

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. No one could be this heartless except Pitch. Maybe even then, Jack didn't know if Pitch would ever kill someone. _Fear..._

"You work with Pitch. You're giving him fear!"

"Congratulations," the figure clapped slowly, bare hands visible. Jack thought he saw a blue tint flicker from the person's left hand. He made a note of it for later. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" The figure asked as it flew closer to Jack, a terrible heat leaking from the figure with every inch of distance that closed between them. "This could be fun... Later, ice boy," he heard it whisper before it flew away.

He lashed around and caught the corner of the cloak. It wasn't enough to stop the figure, but Jack was given a quick look. The hood almost fell backward off the figure's head, but he─ she─ it? ─ gasped and gripped it tightly, pulling it away from Jack's fingers. He could have sworn he saw a piece of red hair fly out, but it may have just been illumination from the remainder of the fires below. Still, he had something.

Maybe now the Guardians would believe him.


	8. A Day's Work

**Chapter 8**\- _A Day's Work_

* * *

Cinder woke up in the middle of the night to feel something pushing up against her. Annoyed, she tried to roll over. Something pushed back when she tried to move. Blinking her eyes open, she saw a mass of pale hair illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the slips in the curtains. She propped herself on her hands quickly and glared.

Then she remembered. Sophie had walked in who knows how long ago, asking Cinder if she could sleep in her room.

"Cinder?"

Cinder had sleepily moaned in answer.

"I had a bad dream... can I sleep in here?"

Cinder felt like if her eyes had been open at the time she would have rolled them and waved the little girl away. But not thinking clearly, she only rolled toward the window and fell back asleep. Sophie must have taken that as a yes and climbed in. Now Cinder realized that Sophie had cradled herself into Cinder's side, and was now sighing with warmth.

Not wanting to wake Sophie, Cinder crawled her way off the end of the bed. She tiptoed to Sophie's side and was about to pick her up when an abrupt pain shattered her mind. Cinder groaned and covered her mouth in surprise, hoping that Sophie wouldn't wake. _Now is not the time, damn it!_ Her brain pounded against her skull frantically and she stumbled backwards. Tripping on the carpet, she fell backwards and hit her back against the corner of the closet. She let out a yelp of pain and immediately clamped her hands to her mouth, anxiously watching Sophie. Sophie momentarily muttered something incoherent and turned away in her sleep.

Cinder would have sighed in relief if the panic hadn't taken its place. The room grew darker and her chest began to heave and heave and it showed no signs of stopping. Scrambling to stand, she gave up and tried to crawl back to the bed. Even if the attack couldn't be subdued by sleep, she hoped feeling the comfort might alleviate the panic naturally. Before she reached the bed, she passed by the mirror and something caught her attention. She turned and stared, hoping that she would only see herself.

Unfortunately, that didn't help. Cinder stared at her reflection and felt the bile rise up in her throat. Her eyes were changing fitfully between green and yellow, and it strained her vision to the point that everything else was blurry. The sounds of the night, while ordinarily trite, echoed through her ears and rattled her consciousness. Her nightclothes suddenly felt constricting, and she tried to take them off, but to no avail. Her fingers grabbed at the fabric but couldn't she couldn't get a definite hold. They just stopped working. Eventually, she sat up and clutched at her scar, which burned intensely. Her eyes began to water and after her final attempt to breathe she dropped the rest of her body to the floor and waited.

"Get up, Cinder," a familiar voice spoke when everything was quiet.

Without facing the mirror, Cinder sat on her feet with her hands on her knees. Taking a long-awaited deep breath, she looked up and saw that her eyes were glowing a vibrant yellow.

But behind these monstrous eyes, a man in black looked at her skeptically. "Where are you?"

"I took a job," Cinder's voice stayed level, "I needed a new place. People were getting suspicious. They're paying me to live in the house."

The man laughed. "Promoted to housemaid, I see."

Cinder sneered almost imperceptibly. "It pays, and I get a place to live. As long as I don't get caught, I don't care."

The man shrugged. "I need you to work again."

Cinder groaned loudly in disbelief, forgetting that Sophie was sleeping in her bed. "Are you kidding me? Wasn't the other job enough? You sure gave me one hell of a headache just barely."

"It was enough to restore proper communication. But I am far from being able to escape."

"Escape?" Cinder repeated. "They imprisoned you?" This was the first time Cinder had been given a clue about what happened four years ago. The sudden lack of communication between herself and the Boogeyman had been strange, but she had just assumed that it was because her contract was null and void. To abruptly find out that he had been imprisoned gave her a startling shock, to say the least.

"Yes, but not for much longer, if you do as I say," the man smiled.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Stop the theatrics. What do you want, Pitch?

"You've been awfully rude and... _arrogant_ lately. You really should change that or you'll never make friends," Pitch laughed at his own awful advice.

Cinder clenched her fist and barely stopped herself from burning a hole through the carpet beneath her. "I said. What. Do. You. Want?"

Pitch's face darkened in the mirror. "I'll show you."

After Pitch relayed the instructions, Cinder stood up shakily and went to the closet. Whatever clothing she kept in her leather bag had been transferred to the closet while the kids were getting ready for bed. Quietly opening the door, she undressed and put on more appropriate clothing. Pants, boots, and a t-shirt later, she looked back at the mirror. Pitch had already dissipated, and she only saw herself again with yellow eyes instead of green ones. Without looking in more detail, she donned her cloak from all those years ago and threw the hood over her head, hiding her features from her hair down to her knees.

Stopping in front of the bed, she looked down at the sleeping Sophie. She'd have to move the little girl when she got back. As she stepped onto the sill and opened the window, she vowed to be back before sunlight.

_Here goes another sleepless night, _she thought before taking off into the air.

Despite working for Pitch, she loved the freedom she felt when she flew. It wasn't often that she could, since people could see her and all, but as soon as the sun went down she took to the air with an excitement that exceeded anything else that she had ever felt. The wind whipped at her face and threw her hair every which way when she didn't have her hood on and she felt the sharp sensation nip at her fingers, arms, nose, and virtually every pore on her skin. It made her feel clean and alive and she would do this forever if she could. Even when she didn't have jobs, she would take the entire night to simply fly and freefall and fly again to catch herself and do all kinds of tricks. Tonight, however, she had a job to do.

And then in the morning, she'd have to bring two children to school.

Not entirely happy with the scenario, she shrugged to herself and called to the wind, sending her body at impossible speed toward her destination.

This time she had to burn the entire village. At first, she was uncomfortable about the instructions. Then Pitch heckled her for it and she snapped out of it. If she did her best for him and got him out of his imprisonment, perhaps he would finally let her go. He would let her live her unfortunate immortal life to never be alone, and to always be alone. When everyone could see her, no one could see her.

Just like last time, she had been disclosed not to show her face. This time, however, she agreed easily. Because who knew if that white-haired idiot would show up again?

_Jack Frost_, she stopped and turned the name over in her mind. Had he really been another person with powers? Remembering the other village and then earlier that day, she knew that he was unmistakably the same person. When she had seen him across the road, standing next to Jamie, she had frozen in shock. The white hair and blue sweatshirt had stood out and she could feel the acute sensation coming off of his being. She knew he was cold, without ever feeling the cold before. She understood the sharp feeling was supposed to be the cold, but it never seemed that way to her. Being so close to him, however, made her reconsider a lot of things, including taking the job. If he was Jamie's friend _and_ the boy who tried to destroy her job the other night (_and_ the boy who helped imprison Pitch), she was screwed, to put it nicely. When he made the comment about playing pranks on her, she was horrendously offended, but she tried not to let it show. But when she asked him herself, everyone had just stared at her. Apparently if you were old enough, you weren't supposed to see Jack Frost.

But Cinder could.

Was it because she also had powers? She had seen his powers that night, which was why she didn't bother to have Jack showcase himself when they confronted each other. She knew exactly what he could do.

But he couldn't stop her flames, and that was what made her smirk. She had the upper hand on Jack Frost, the spirit of winter. He knew nothing about her. That's why she was going to shake his hand. She knew she could have melted his hand then and there. It was a bold move, but it would have given him the sign to back off. But Jamie had interfered, so she decided to leave it at that.

Inhaling the brisk air, she readied her hands and set ablaze everything she could to her heart's content. The opal in her ring flickered brilliantly against the fire, and didn't melt around her finger from the intense heat. The crackling of the wood filled her senses, telling her she had the power to do something,, to make something happen by willing it. The smell of the smoke reminded her of campfires that she made a long time ago. But it also reminded her of how she awoke. Shrugging the feeling off, she remembered fire could not hurt her again. She flew through the streets before people flooded them and shot fire through windows and doors, each fireball hitting its mark and erupting in bright oranges and yellows.

Flying up into the air again, she breathed in the clean air once more. The smoke had gotten to be too much even for her, which meant half the job was over. She still had to watch over the fire. This part was never in the job descriptions, but she did it anyway. It held mixed feelings for her. At first, it was calming to watch the flames lick away at the oxygen in the air. But eventually memories would flood back and she would remember the Walkers and she would nearly bring herself to tears. But always, always, she stopped herself by shooting another fireball downward in frustration.

Then she saw something fluffy skip through the alleyways in the town. Furrowing her brows she floated down to see what it was. To her complete surprise, she blinked profusely to try and get it straight. She was looking at _a giant rabbit-kangaroo-thing_ through one of the windows and he─ it─ was staring back at her, something cradled in his─ paws? Realizing she was found out, she took off to the air again when she saw the thick white cloud above her. It was snow and it wasn't melting. It must be too high up, she figured. Frowning, she zoomed to the outskirts of the town and floated, facing the obnoxious job-ruining idiot. Warming her hand immediately, she swore she wasn't going to miss.

But she did, and the snow was released and it fell toward the village, turning into rain almost instantaneously when it got within range of the blaze. Although Cinder was impressed with herself, she realized the rain was able to squelch her fires. Angry, she flew under and behind while he recovered from her fireball. Watching him look around so furiously was almost funny, but then she realized she had to be serious before the giant furry thing found her again.

"You again," she growled, masking her voice.

The boy whipped around and Cinder nearly heaved. It was the exact same boy she had met, and he was furious. She knew he was the same to begin with, but now she was sure. His blue eyes were alight with an intensity that rivaled her flames. It was almost like he was a different person. It was a shame. They could have made friends... but maybe that wasn't meant to be.

"You did this," he spat out maliciously.

Cinder grinned underneath her hood. "Do you like it?" She couldn't stop herself form laughing at Jack's face. He looked so disgusted and the face really didn't suit him.

"You could have killed people!"

She remembered Pitch's words to her after she escaped being drowned in a witch trial, and repeated them: "Fear is powerful, isn't it?"

But then Jack's face changed and Cinder wished she hadn't said anything. He stared at her hard and answered her thoughts. "You work with Pitch. You're giving him fear!"

Cinder was scared, but she had to act quickly. She clapped her hands slowly as they peeked out from underneath her cloak. "Congratulations. You're a smart one, aren't you?" She then began to fly closer to him. As she closed the distance, however, she noticed the sharp, brisk, wintry feeling became more prominent and thick. It made her sick, but she wasn't sure why. Knowing she had to scare him, she whispered in an act of bravery: "This could be fun. Later, ice boy."

Cinder tried to fly off, but something tugged slightly at her cloak. She realized in panic that he had tried to grab her. Turning toward him, she tugged back and flew off, holding on tightly to her hood for fear that it might fly off. Mentally cursing herself, she allowed herself to quit her job for the night and fly back to Burgess.

When Cinder got back to the house, she realized with additional fear that she had left the window wide open. Hopefully Sophie hadn't frozen to death. Cinder would be furious with herself. She may not have wanted to be around humans as closely as she was, but she wasn't about to wish death on any of them (a little ironic considering the consequences of her jobs, but she was unaware of that at the time).

Except maybe the white-haired frost-boy, but perhaps she was judging too quickly.

Cinder climbed back in the window to see that Sophie was still in her bed, and she had stolen all of the blankets. Smirking, Cinder skipped over the bed and undressed for the second time that night. Looking at the clock as she pulled on her shirt for the day, she saw it was almost 5:00am. Groaning, Cinder realized that she wasn't getting much more sleep. Nevertheless, she crawled back into bed and turned toward the window. Reaching her hand up, she gripped the window and shut it, already falling asleep.

The alarm clock rang too soon, and Cinder's eyes were bloodshot. She looked down and saw that Sophie was still sound asleep. _I wish I was that heavy a sleeper, _she thought bitterly as she turned off the alarm, hauled herself out of bed, and dragged her feet down the stairs into the kitchen.

Yawning and stretching her arms wide, she moaned and blinked again. Grabbing a skillet from a lower cabinet and eggs from the fridge, she tried to start the stove. It was a gas stove, but it wasn't catching fire. Frowning, she simply snapped her fingers and the stove came to life.

"What was that?" a voice asked, clanging loudly in Cinder's head. She turned and saw that Jamie was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, still dressed in his pajama pants.

"Well, good morning, early bird," Cinder tried to sound cheerful, but lack of sleep did not aid her and it came out with a sarcastic tone.

"Did you just light the stove with your fingers?"

The boy had seen her. Thinking quickly she flicked a lighter out from inside her sleeve. She kept one on her in case of events like this. "You didn't see this?" She reasoned, pretending to be confused.

Jamie simply narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Cinder started cracking the eggs and pouring their contents into the skillet.

"Is Sophie up yet?" Jamie asked as Cinder cracked the last egg.

"Probably not," Cinder sighed.

"I'll go get her," Jamie volunteered and walked out of the kitchen.

"Wait!" Cinder didn't want Jamie finding Sophie in Cinder's bed; that would potentially send a thousand wrong messages. "I'll go get her," she said as she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed ahead of him, "watch the eggs!"

As Cinder sprinted up the stairs, she nearly bumped into a tired Sophie that was still in pajamas. "Hey there, Sophie. Why don't you get dressed?" She suggested as she pushed the kid toward her room.

"You don't need to tell me, I'm not three," she muttered, yawning.

"No, you're just six and still have nightmares."

"Don't tell Jamie!"

"If you hurry up and get downstairs for breakfast, I'll think about not telling him after school."

That did the trick. Sophie gasped and ran to her room and shut the door. Smiling to herself, Cinder paraded down the stairs. Kids were easy.

After they were all downstairs, Cinder served their breakfast of eggs and toast and sat down herself. They ate in uncomfortable silence, each for their own reasons.

"Hey, Cinder," Sophie spoke suddenly.

"Hmm?" Cinder said through a mouthful of food.

"Do you believe in Jack Frost?"

Cinder gulped down her food prematurely. She knew he existed, now, but did she believe in him? What did that even mean? "No, he's just a tale parents tell kids in order to get them to wear hats and mittens."

"Mom says the same thing," Sophie looked dejected. Cinder was momentarily worried that she had done something wrong.

"He's real, you know. You saw him," Jamie stared at Cinder. "So you must believe in him in some way."

"Ah, I guess so," Cinder chewed absently, hoping Jamie took the bait.

He didn't. "What if I got Jack to come by after school today? We could prove it to you and you'd believe us."

Cinder put down her fork and swallowed the last of her food. "I'll take you up on that bet, you know. Loser makes dinner."

"But I can't cook!"

"Then you better not be lying," Cinder shrugged and held up her hands. "Come on, isn't there a bus coming soon?"

"I thought you were taking us? Besides, the bus comes by at six-thirty. It's seven-thirty," Jamie clarified. "Do you have a car somewhere?"

"A car?" Cinder laughed.

"Yeah, you know, to take us to school?"

_Damn bus. _Cinder hadn't thought about that. She had never driven much before. When she had tried, she nearly killed anyone in her way. She decided then to just fake the license in case she desperately needed it. But now she realized cars were sort of necessities since most people couldn't simply fly...

"You'll walk," Cinder answered, pulling on her shoes and grabbing her sweater.

"Are you serious?"

"Do you want to get Jack to fly you guys to school?" Cinder asked sarcastically.

"That'd be preferable," Jamie muttered under his breath.

"Can you walk with us, Cinder?" Sophie asked innocently.

Cinder caught her breath for a second. "Alright, let's go," Cinder waved the kids toward the door. "Does everyone have what they need?"

"Yes," the kids both answered.

"Good, let's go now."

Jamie walked ahead of Cinder and Sophie, hands in his pockets. Cinder watched as he hunched his shoulders to shield himself from the cold. Cinder smirked, knowing that she couldn't feel the cold and was glad about it. Then she looked down at a shivering Sophie who had inched closer to Cinder's side. Sighing, she released some of her heat and Sophie smiled with content. They walked in silence for about fifteen minutes and stopped in front of the school.

The school was considered an elementary school, but it combined grades K-8, so both Sophie and Jamie went inside. Sophie stopped before she went through the doorway and waved energetically to Cinder. Uneasily, she waved back before turning away and leaving.

But she didn't go back home. Cinder needed to clear her mind, and that house was too confining. Instead, she made for the pond where she picked up Jamie the other night and slid her way down to the frozen pond. Breathing deeply, she jumped and landed on the rock jutting out of the pond. There she sat and contemplated the night before.

Jack's furious words flew into her consciousness again, and she leaned backward and lay across the rock. He seemed so serious then. But when she met him and Jamie, he looked so innocent, even a bit impish. If he would stop ruining her jobs, Cinder thought they could potentially be friends. Then she laughed at her own thought.

_I don't need friends. I haven't ever needed them. Friends don't mean anything._

But she was started to doubt the philosophy she used her entire life.

* * *

When it came time for the kids to return home from school, Cinder made her way back to the house. If Jamie brought Jack back with him... she was still unsure about what it was she wanted to do about it. She settled to deal with it as it came, but even that idea seemed horrible.

Nonetheless, Cinder got back to the house and plopped down on the couch. She looked at the bookshelf in the corner and decided she'd look them over whenever she got bored. They were probably better than nothing. A few hours and several books sprawled all over the living room later, Cinder was proven wrong. Her imagination was more active than those books. The books were also about gardening and very thick, clichéd romances that honestly left _nothing_ to the imagination ─ something Cinder was more than glad she hadn't experienced.

"We're home," Jamie's voice rang throughout the house as the front door opened. Something in his voice made Cinder stand up.

"Hmm, I don't see Jack Frost anywhere," she remarked nonchalantly as she strolled into the kitchen.

"I couldn't find him and he didn't come when I called," Jamie explained.

"Well, I guess I can't say he's not real then." Jamie's head lifted and Cinder laughed. "But that doesn't mean you didn't lose the bet. You're so making dinner tonight."

"Aw," Jamie groaned. "But I'll burn the house down."

"Calm down," Cinder shook her head, "I'll help."

Dinner, in fact, had gone well. Cinder helped Jamie cook some burgers and fries and she went into the fridge to grab drinks when she stopped. There wasn't anything to drink. _Water will have to do, then. I guess I'll go shopping tomorrow._

After Cinder had to force the kids to do their homework, she saw that it had gotten late and called bedtime for Sophie. Jamie insisted he would go to bed when his homework was done, but Cinder realized he had finished his work awhile ago. Not wanting to start another argument with the boy, she urged Sophie up the stairs and said she would come up to check on her in a little bit.

But instead of going back to the living room where Jamie was sitting, Cinder walked into the kitchen and began to clean up the mess from dinner. She hated doing the dishes, which was why she normally stayed at motels when she moved. She never had to do dishes; she could just buy premade food and use paper plates they provided from the breakfast area. But now that she was staying at someone's house, with _two _kids, she realized that doing the dishes was going to be essential.

Jamie walked by the kitchen on the way to the stairs and muttered a good night to Cinder.

"Goodnight, Jamie," Cinder paused. "Jamie?"

"Yeah?" Jamie stopped halfway up the stairs but didn't turn around.

"I'm... sorry about what I said. About Jack and everything," she admitted.

"What made you say that?"

Cinder paused, thinking intently. Failing to come up with a good answer, she simply said, "I just think it's the right thing. I mean, I did see someone, so maybe there's a chance that I'm wrong. But I doubt it," she added quickly. She didn't normally think that she was wrong and didn't want Jamie to get used to it.

"Yeah, sure," Jamie smirked and continued walking up the stairs.

Cinder gave up. _Wish I had a drink. _When she was done cleaning the kitchen, she also walked upstairs to get ready for bed. Hopefully tonight Pitch wouldn't need her again. She didn't feel like risking her identity quite so soon after the other night. And, for once, Cinder did not feel like flying. She tossed her day clothing into the corner, a considerable pile beginning to form, and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts.

Just as she had slipped into bed, she heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"I had another bad dream," Sophie's voice whispered as she opened the door.

"Already? You only went up to bed an hour ago," Cinder was mystified.

"It was really scary," Sophie whined softly. "Please, Cinder? Can I stay?"

Cinder sighed and complied. "But this is the last night, okay? You're six years old and a big girl now." Cinder almost choked up on the last part of the sentence. It was the same thing she always said to Rebecca when she had nightmares and climbed into Cinder's bed. Rubbing the small tears out of her eyes, she moved over to give Sophie room on the bed.

Almost immediately, Sophie fell asleep. Envious of the heavy sleeper, Cinder rolled over to face the window and forced her eyes shut. She was going to get plenty of sleep tonight.

Then she heard a few quick taps on the window.

* * *

**A/N: Hmmmmm I wonder who that could be? I know, I know, it's taken a long time for these two characters to finally meet, but I promise it's worth it! Their first conversation will take place over the next two chapters, so I hope you'll keep reading! Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	9. First Impressions

**Chapter 9** \- _First Impressions_

* * *

"Bunny!" Jack had glided back to the ground in the middle of the village. "Bunny! Are you okay?" he shouted.

"I'm awlright, I'm awlright," Bunny walked out of a nearby building, letting a child hop out of his arms and run to their family. But Jack didn't notice because he was busy laughing at Bunny's _drenched_ fur. "My fur, not so much."

"Hey, at least it wasn't burned off!" Jack replied between fits of laughter.

"No, the flyin' fire demon did that," Bunny turned to reveal a patch of fur missing near his tail. Jack laughed even harder.

"How'd you even do that?" Bunny was next to him now. Jack had confusion written on his face. "That rain stuff? I thought you were all snow and ice."

"That's what happened whenever I made snow around here. The fire melted it instantly."

"No fire is that hot, mate," Bunny pointed out.

"Well, this fire is." Jack was annoyed, but not at Bunny. "Did you see him?"

"Aye, but that darn cloak was too thick to see through," Bunny replied. "I'm surprised he wasn't dyin' inside that thing. Did you see 'im?"

Jack looked away in shame. "Yeah, and I almost had him, too."

"What happened?"

"I'm not really sure," Jack looked back at Bunny awhile before continuing, wondering if Bunny would believe him. "I think he wore some sort of ring on his finger and I... I think he works for Pitch."

"Pitch! We 'ad better get back to the Pole. If Pitch is back..."

"We'll stop him again," Jack finished Bunny's sentence.

"I hope so, mate," Bunny shook his head. "You got another portal, right?"

Jack nodded and tossed the globe in front of them. Something was very wrong and North needed to know immediately.

When they stepped out of the portal, they were in the globe room. Jack looked up to where they just were, and saw a large mound of black sand trickling down from the town's pinpoint. The lights of those children were still glowing, but they almost seemed fainter. _Fear is powerful, isn't it?_

Jack shook his head to get rid of the thought. This was bad. If that fire guy had succeeded, the lights would have gone out. As it was, they were beginning to dim. Why did Pitch have a partner? Worse, when did Pitch get this partner? There's no way it had been anytime within the last four years because Pitch was defeated by the Guardians and the kids. He had been taken underground by his own nightmarish horses. He should have been completely finished; even if not forever, at least for longer than four years. But if this fire guy succeeded again... That was what Jack feared the most about this situation. He feared that Pitch wouldn't come back alone.

"North! Tooth! Sandy!" Bunny shouted, running around to each of the doors that led out of the room. "You're gonna wanna hear about this!"

"North!" Jack yelled, slamming his staff into the ground, sending shards of ice everywhere. "North! It's Pitch!"

"Where are they?" Bunny asked desperately. "They shoulda been here waitin'."

"I don't know," Jack's voice failed. This didn't make sense. The others would have waited for them. More importantly, they were only gone for an hour or two, at most. Defeated, Jack jumped and sat on top of the globe. It was there that he saw more black sand over in Russia. His heart fell with realization.

"Bunny! There's more black sand!" Jack stood and pointed below him on the globe.

"Ya kiddin' me, mate?" Bunny hopped over and stared, incredulous. "Should we go, too?"

"That might be where they went, but..." Jack was unsure what to do.

"But what, Jack?" A familiar voice boomed from the outer halls. Pushing open the doors suddenly, North burst through with his large fur jacket still on. Sandy walked in with despair in his eyes and Tooth flew into the room, straight for Jack. She hugged him tightly. Baby Tooth flew in next and curled into Jack's hood, sighing with relief.

"Oh, Jack! You're alright," looking to Bunny, she added, "you're both alright. Thank goodness!"

"I could say the same for you guys," Jack replied. Then he turned to North and asked, "What happened?"

"There was black sand again," North explained, "we went to search. But, no fire person around. No, instead, black sand everywhere! Is like Pitch never left!"

"That's what we wanted to tell you!" Jack said. "We saw the fire guy, and..."

"And?" Tooth asked worriedly. Sandy looked up with intense interest.

"He's working for Pitch," Jack said in a low voice. "I think he's using the fire to feed children's fear to Pitch."

"If he keeps succeedin', Pitch will escape," Bunny added.

"Is not good, not good," North pet his beard and began pacing, a cutlass in his other hand. "We must find out who dis fire guy is." He turned to Sandy suddenly. "Do you know of any fire spirit?"

Sandy tapped his chin thoughtfully, thousands of sand images appearing and disappearing above his head. Finally, his dream sand settled into the shape of a question mark, with a crestfallen face to match.

"Tooth?" North raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Jack's a winter spirit," Tooth reasoned, "so is there a chance this was a summer spirit?"

"I think fire's a little drastic for a summer spirit's power," Bunny thought out loud. Sandy nodded in agreement.

"Besides, that wouldn't explain why he was targeting children with his fire," Jack added.

"Jack, not all spirits are here for the children," Tooth placated, putting her small hand on his shoulder. "Some are just plain nasty or neutral at best."

"Well there's no way this guy's neutral," Jack huffed. "Hey, Manny!" He yelled up to the ceiling windows. "You're the one that's neutral. Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you care at all?"

"Jack," North stopped him, "Man in Moon may not know, or think it time to tell us."

"But why? The children are in danger and could be getting _killed_."

"I know why you're upset, Jack. But there's always a plan, Manny just doesn't want to reveal it yet," Tooth placated again.

"Well he should! I'm not standing around when I could be finding this fire guy and stopping the entire problem from getting any worse!"

"Don't be so frosty, mate," Bunny warned him. "If we get hasty, we could make it worse ourselves."

Jack was fed up with the Guardians, and he let it show. Slamming his staff to the ground again, he scattered ice and snow haphazardly across the room. His heart rate picked up and the snowflakes began to flurry and create a storm. The wind picked up, flying in from the windows that had now been blown wide open. His chest was heaving and his frustration was making his vision blurry. It was getting scary for the other Guardians to watch Jack lose control like this, but they were too scared to get close to him. Baby Tooth flew out from his hood and hid in Tooth's hands.

Suddenly, Jack bolted. He flew up and out of the workshop and flew in blind fury to some unknown destination. He didn't know or particularly care where he went, as long as he was searching. Madly flying around anywhere he could think of, he investigated every place, hoping to find some trace of either Pitch or the fire guy. It was hours before he decided to settle.

When he flew down to a town's empty street, he slammed his fist against a road sign then shook his hand in pain. Kicking his staff so that it landed balanced on his shoulder, he began to slow down. Most of his outburst had subsided, but his anger hadn't faded. For once, he didn't care if children saw him then, he didn't think he could answer them happily. Even though it was now daylight, he figured the majority of children were already in school and couldn't actively search him out. Not that a whole lot of kids would, he was still a newer Guardian and not every child believed in him. Jack looked up to the sky and sighed. It was still fun to try and make them believe, but he didn't feel like doing any of that today. He was still frustrated that he couldn't find anything, not one clue that would have helped him find out about Pitch.

Jack suddenly had the sense that someone was calling to him. _Jamie_... He thought about taking off to see him, but realized that he was in no condition. He was still angry and didn't want Jamie to become worried.

Turning the corner, Jack happened upon a main street filled with little stores. Maybe he could get Jamie something to make up for not seeing him. Or maybe he could get something for Cinder. She didn't seem to like him, but maybe Jack could play the sweet and charming card. At least then she wouldn't expect his and Jamie's pranks. That could make him feel better, if the Guardians didn't call him back first. He really hoped they would leave him alone for once. After the show he gave them before slamming proverbial the door in their faces, he doubted they would want to see him at all. Tooth was probably extremely worried. He decided he would get her something, too. She deserved an apology most of all. She tried to talk him down, but he didn't listen. Perhaps they all had, but Jack wasn't willing to be too forgiving just yet.

Slipping through one of the store's doors at the same time as someone else, he walked around the place. He kept his staff upright and close to his side so that he didn't accidentally knock something over. Absently looking at the shelves, he pondered what Jamie would like. He was fourteen, and Jack was never good with gifts. He remembered that about himself when he was human, too. Jack realized he was in a sort of sporting goods store, and he figured Jamie liked most sports. He stopped in front of a line of clothing and looked more intently. Up on a high rack, he found a blank hockey jersey that was white with several blues for the trim. The number wasn't important, he figured, so he grabbed one and quickly stuffed it into his sweatshirt pocket. He hoped there were no cameras in this place. Glancing around again, he didn't think he'd find anything for Tooth or Cinder here. He slipped out quietly when someone opened the door.

Back on the street, Jack began whistling. The current activity was taking the underlying situation off his mind, and he was glad for it. The signs above the shops swayed in the breeze he sent through the street. Smirking, he reached up and tapped his staff on one of the signs, creating ice swirls across the wooden surface. Then he stopped and turned to the store window. There were a lot of shiny crystals and charms hanging off of necklaces, bracelets, and other things Jack didn't recognize. He figured Tooth would like almost anything from this store, so he snuck in.

Keeping his staff close again, Jack tiptoed around the precariously displayed jewelry. Raising and furrowing his eyebrows in succession at all of the different shiny things, he settled on a necklace with a pale purple gem wrapped in silver hanging from the chain. Glancing around carefully, he wound the piece around his wrist and pulled his sweatshirt over it. Jack turned to leave but halted abruptly when he saw an old woman go pale in the face. She couldn't see him, but Jack knew she must have seen a floating necklace disappear.

"Oops," Jack winced.

The woman was falling backwards from fright. Jack tried to hold his staff out to steady her, but it phased right through her and she fell anyway. Before a scene erupted, Jack fled the store.

He ran out of the building laughing, feeling only slightly bad. It was still too funny. _Oh, the look on her face!_ He laughed some more.

Calming himself down, Jack proceeded down the street once more. His smile slowly faded as he realized he was still looking for one last gift. For a girl he barely knew, too. Why was he doing this?

_Because she's someone my age that can see me, _he reminded himself firmly. _And she doesn't seem to like me much. I'm starting to turn into one of the Guardians, coming up with gimmicks to get people to like and believe in them._

Jack searched through every store on each side of the street, but nothing struck his idea of something gift-worthy. There were shops with animals, shops with tools, shops with candles, and shops with furniture. Nothing seemed right. He didn't even know what _could_ seem right as a gift for a seventeen year old girl, assuming she was even that old. Jack realized he knew nothing about her, and that this quest was going to be impossible.

Then he stumbled upon a small winter clothing outlet at the end of the other side of the street. Cinder hadn't had a whole lot on her when she came to pick up Jamie, he remembered. She had been wearing a sweater, which was hardly appropriate for the weather, even Jack thought so. With it getting colder, he figured she would probably want something warmer. He didn't know if she had anything warmer, but it was worth a shot. It's not like he had to pay for anything.

But what could he get? Jack didn't have any room on his person to get her a coat, and he didn't know what style she would like. _Why do I care so much,_ he caught himself thinking, but shook it off as he kept peering around the store. _It's just a distraction for me. If the Guardians want me to be at least a tiny bit cheerful, they'll let me be and what I'm doing right now helps that. That's all this is._

Frowning, he wasn't finding a whole lot that he thought would work. Scarves also required some knowledge of style, and she didn't seem like the type to wear them. Hats were probably out of the question, too, because she didn't seem to care about what her hair was doing. _It looked like a wreck, _Jack recalled the bright red hair...

A thought crept into the back of his mind, but he ignored it as soon as it was about to surface.

Changing his mind, Jack spent his sweet time looking at all the hats around him, thinking that maybe a hat was actually a good idea. If her hair was always like that, maybe a hat was what she needed. He frowned in concentration when he saw out of the corner of his eye a pair of slim, dark blue gloves. They were almost the same color as his sweatshirt, but a little darker. Putting down the hat he had been debating on, he picked up the gloves and studied them carefully.

They were thin, but it came to Jack's attention that Cinder may not want super thick articles of clothing at all. She seemed to give off a heat wave when Jack met her, so maybe slimmer was better. Finalizing his decision, he put the gloves inside his already stuffed sweatshirt pocket and made for the door. Knowing that it was getting late and no one was going to come into or leave the store, he took a chance and opened the door himself.

The owner came out of the store and was shocked to see trails of ice weaving throughout the aisles in his store. Looking up at the door, he saw that it was just barely closing. Confused, he shrugged and began to close up the shop for the night.

Jack looked around for a clock. He wasn't exactly sure what time it was, but he had to get to Burgess before the Guardians called him back and the others were asleep. Taking off, he flew over the town momentarily, looking for any sort of time piece. Not that it would guarantee the correct time for Burgess, but it would give him something to work from. After a second he realized he could possibly be on a different continent and have a long ways to travel before reaching Burgess. Hoping that wasn't the case, he floated back down and looked inside a building's window.

A clock on the furthest wall read 8:30pm, and Jack swore to himself silently. He really hoped he was in the same time zone. Jack walked around, listening to pieces of conversations. It seemed like everyone was speaking English readily, so that narrowed his choices. He flew up again, looking for a post office or a subway, something with a map. Finding the nearest bus station, he landed again and peered quizzically at the map. He was somewhere in New York, that was for sure. Taking that as his cue, he left the building and flew south for Burgess. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

The flight took longer than expected, since it was now dark out, but Jack found his way to his hometown as best he could. Dropping down to the pond, he took out the contents he had taken on his shopping trip. The jersey and the gloves would come with him, but he couldn't keep the necklace wrapped around his wrist. It had constantly felt like it was falling off, and that was when Jack was flying a relatively short distance. He didn't want it to fall on his way back to the Pole, if he even ended up going back anytime soon. Flying up to the ridge overhanging the pond, he stuck the necklace in a little alcove just below the snowy top. He promised to come back for it later and headed over to Jamie's house.

Landing quietly on the roof to Jamie's bedroom, Jack swung himself upside down and checked out the room. Jamie was at the desk, hunched over something in apparent concentration. Jack tapped on the window and Jamie flinched in surprise, turning around while almost tipping his chair over.

"Jack?" he heard Jamie ask through the glass. Jamie walked over to the window and opened it. "Hey, where have you been? I tried to call to you earlier and it was like you vanished off the earth. Cinder wanted you to prove yourself and you made it look like you didn't exist! Care to explain?"

"You sound like your mother," Jack poked fun at Jamie.

Jamie smirked but wasn't buying it. "You still aren't answering me."

Jack didn't want to tell Jamie about everything that had happened since last night just yet, so instead he held out the jersey. "I was looking for stuff, and I thought you'd like this," he smiled sheepishly.

Jamie took the bundle of fabric and unfolded it. "Wow! That's awesome, Jack. Where'd you get this?"

"Oh, a place," Jack winked.

Jamie laughed. "So how long can you stay?" he asked as he laid the jersey on his nightstand.

"Honestly, I don't know," Jack shrugged. "But not too long; are the others asleep?"

"Sophie went to bed a little while ago, but I heard her up and about again, so I'm not sure. She probably had a bad dream and tried to shake it off."

That got Jack thinking. Were nightmares beginning to return to the children of the world? Was Pitch strong enough to return yet? He didn't voice any of this to Jamie, but he was visibly worried.

"Relax," Jamie said when he saw Jack's countenance change, "she's probably still upset that mom's gone."

Jack nodded, taking that as a viable reason because he didn't feel like getting worked up again. He and Jamie talked for a little while, catching up on whatever they could think of while they could. Jamie talked about his first day back and about Pippa being mad about him not calling her for help on the homework (which Jamie was completely abashed by). Jack laughed and offered a piece of advice: talk to her. Jamie seemed confused by that answer, but he soon ignored it and the conversation went on.

"But it's getting late, so I think I'm going to head to bed already," Jamie finished.

Jack looked at Jamie's alarm clock and realized he had spent over an hour talking to Jamie. "Oh, sorry, I guess I better get going, too."

"See you tomorrow, right?"

"Definitely," Jack promised as he climbed back out of Jamie's window.

"Goodnight, Jack."

"Night," Jack said before disappearing around the side of the house. He wasn't actually leaving just yet. He wanted see if Cinder was awake and if she would talk to him. Pausing just outside the window, and before looking in, he tapped on the glass with his staff, creating swirls of ice patterns.

Biting his lip, Jack waited for some sort of reaction. Instead of shooting straight up in alarm, a girl slowly pushed her body up and stared menacingly out the window. When she realized who it was, she mouthed "are you serious" and sat up carefully. Putting her head in her hand, she used her free one to unlatch the window. It was then that Jack saw the black mark beneath her clavicle that was visible because of her low shirt.

"Aw, come on," Jack smiled easily, "at least open it. I just wanna talk."

Cinder looked away, mimicking someone deep in thought. Looking back at him, she shook her head and wagged her finger simultaneously. _No._

Jack pouted and put his hands together in a mock pleading gesture. He thought he heard Cinder laugh because she lightened up and reached for the window again. Jack sat on the outer sill and waited for her to lift it up. To his dismay, she only opened it partly, hardly wide enough for his head to fit through.

"What is it, Jack Frost?" Cinder asked tiredly. "I want to actually have some sleep tonight."

"Why wouldn't you?"

In answer, Cinder moved to the side slightly and looked behind her. There, on the other half of her bed was Sophie, dead asleep.

Jack nodded. "She really seems to like you."

"Yeah, I'm really not sure why," Cinder's brows furrowed. "I'm not that nice."

"I've noticed," Jack agreed.

The redhead whipped her head around to stare at him with pursed lips. "That wasn't nice, either."

Jack put his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Could you just open the window a little more?"

Cinder tapped the window up slightly, a smile curling on her lips.

"Funny," Jack said. "Please?"

"Why?" Cinder put her hands on her hips.

"Trust me," Jack said earnestly.

Cinder rolled her eyes, but opened the window the rest of the way anyway. "Now what? You going to prank me somehow like you told Jamie you were going to?"

Jack smirked, but he knew the pranks could wait. "I came here to make peace, I promise. We didn't necessarily get off on the right foot, so I thought I'd, I don't know, try again." Jack reached into his pocket and retrieved the gloves.

"What are those?" Cinder held the gloves when Jack passed them to her. "Bargaining chips?"

"Huh?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You know," Cinder explained slowly, "something you use to get someone to like you; an exchange of sorts."

"Ah, well," Jack stumbled. That's sort of what they were, weren't they? "I didn't mean that, I just thought you could use them. It is getting cold and you don't seem to own much warm clothing. He absent-mindedly gestured to her nightclothes.

"What?" Cinder looked down at her body. "Is it too skimpy?"

Jack's face reddened as he realized what he just said. He began stammering and stuttering in apology when he heard her giggling quietly. "What's so funny?"

"You're so prude, it's great," she justified the humor. "Look, it was nice to chat with you, Jack Frost, but I really could use some sleep."

"W-wait," Jack held out his hand momentarily and then brought it back before she noticed. "I... I want to know more about you. Tell me, why is it that you can see me?"

"Like I know!" Cinder threw up her hands incredulously. "I didn't even think someone like you existed. I thought you were just another fairy tale, like the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy or─"

"Or Santa Claus," Jack finished her sentence.

"Exactly," then Cinder paused, stunned. "They _are_ just fairytales, right?"

Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"_No way_. No. You're kidding. I don't believe you," Cinder shook her head in disbelief. "I can settle for one of you being real, but all of the others?"

"Yup," Jack bowed. "And we're the Guardians of Childhood."

"Shut up," Cinder held up her hand. "There is no way you are telling the truth. I still hardly believe you have winter powers."

"Do you want me to show you?" Jack held out his hand.

Biting her lip, Cinder looked from Jack to his hand and back again. She seemed to debate it carefully, and Jack began to sweat. He really hoped she would say yes, partially because he wanted to show off but also partially because he really wanted her to be his friend. Having a friend that was his age would be a huge stress relief, even if she would only be around his age for a little while longer. And who knew when she was going to stop believing─ or doing whatever it was that made her able see him. Jack didn't want to miss out on possibly his only chance to befriend someone like this.

Cinder reached her hand out and hesitantly grabbed Jack's hand when an intense burst of pain spread into his hand and up his arm like lightening. His vision went completely white and he was afraid that he was going to fall off of the roof. Crying out, he took his hand back and cradled it against him. It was suddenly terrifyingly hot and he looked down to see what happened. His hand was burned; not a little red, but _burned _down his arm to his elbow. And it hurt like hell. He was about to yell at Cinder when he looked into her room with complete shock.

Cinder lay on the ground from falling off the bed. And her arm was covered in ice, turning purple by the second.

* * *

**A/N: GUYS I am so excited about this story! I've just finished writing the 19th chapter. It's probably going to have upwards of 30 chapters total (or more! ^^) just to let you know, but you can still make suggestions. ;)**

**I just thought I'd tell you guys that I may be uploading a new "story" soon that's more comedic, less plotted-out than this one. I don't know if I should, but if I do decide to post it, I'll let you know! I also had another idea for a story, but it would require A LOT of focus because it's fairly content-heavy. If I choose to write that one then it'll will be toward the ending of this story (unless I decide to do a sequel, or make this idea fit into the sequel somehow).  
**

**Ugh, it's just like me to get a bunch of writing ideas before several exams. D: Anyway! Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	10. Unlikely Circumstances

**Chapter 10** \- _Unlikely Circumstances_

* * *

Cinder reached her hand out tenderly. Jack was going to prove himself to her without hesitation, but she thought she was going to call his bluff. When their hands touched, however, pain shot through her being.

Cinder's back thudded against the carpet and all air was forced out of her. Red hair had been blown across her face in frizzy pieces and her green eyes dimmed momentarily. Her right arm was flung outward from her body and completely numb. But this was a different kind of numb. The numb feeling she used to get from using too much fire or from sitting on her hands too long was what she was used to. This breed of numb encapsulated her entire arm in a sharp, never-ending cast that rendered her arm useless. It tore her mind apart, trying to figure out why the arm felt like it was no longer hers. It felt white hot, but she knew it wasn't. The hottest fire in the world couldn't hurt her, so her arm wasn't hot. Cinder began to hyperventilate, trying to make the air spread through her system in the hopes that her arm would recover. But her arm remained feeling brisk and unmovable. Turning her head to the right, she blinked weakly and peered down at what should have been her arm. Her breath caught again and her eyes widened.

Her arm was encased in ice and turning purple.

Cinder's arm was _cold_.

"What did you do?!" Cinder whispered a shriek. "What the hell is wrong with my arm?!"

"I─ I don't know!" Jack stuttered, alarmed. Cinder noticed he was cradling his left arm and the sleeve was pulled over his hand. "I'm sorry!"

Cinder was able to sit up with one arm, but the other followed independent of her wishes. When she went to pick up the arm and put it in her lap, the cold ice hurt her fingertips. "Ouch," she muttered and shook her free hand. Admiring the dead arm, she raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "You have some kind of power, that's for sure. Hell of a way to show it," she glared at him.

"I didn't do that," Jack defended himself. "Look at what you did to _my _arm!" He rolled back his sleeve with an antagonizing slowness, and Cinder saw why. His arm was burned from finger tip to elbow. It wasn't just red, but it wasn't burnt to a black crisp. It was safe to say that it was probably a second degree burn in most spots.

"Well at least yours isn't in danger of falling off!" Cinder whispered as she stood shakily. Her breath still hadn't caught up to her, and she still felt a little disoriented. She wavered and stumbled a little before making it to the doorway.

"Where are you going? Do you need help?" Jack asked with concern laced in his voice.

Cinder didn't say anything. She was busy trying to keep her head from swimming and her body from crashing to the floor again. Whatever happened, it hurt her more than it had hurt him from what she could tell. Keeping her arm to her stomach, she hoped her internal heat would do some good. It didn't seem like it was, however, which was why she was aiming to make it to the bathroom. When she made it down the hall, she leaned on the doorframe and grabbed at the back of her shirt with her good hand. Not for the first time, she found her fingers couldn't grasp the fabric and she felt too weak to pull it over her head, let alone her frozen arm.

Jack had followed some ways behind her. He was a few feet down the hall, looking anxious. Something in his features made Cinder believe Jack had seen something he shouldn't have.

"Hey, wanna help me here?" Cinder was desperate. "I need a hot shower, but I can't get my shirt..." she turned her head over her shoulder and saw that Jack was looking away, his face as red as a fire engine, "never mind. You know what? I'll just run the bath and dip my arm in."

"I'd probably freeze you again if I tried to help," Jack reasoned with an unsure voice, "and, um, my arm doesn't feel the greatest either."

"You can still use it, I'm sure," Cinder sneered.

"Not really," Jack admitted, "it's pretty useless, and my ice hurts it."

Cinder frowned. _What just happened?_ He came by her window just as she was about to fall asleep, and asked to talk to her. Cinder really, really, really wanted to sleep after what occurred the other night. And she had to wake up early the next day to get the kids ready for school and then go shopping for food. _Yuck, it's like I'm a housewife now,_ she wrinkled her nose and returned her thoughts to Jack.

He had had a pleading look in his blue eyes that made Cinder consider opening the window, but she had only unlatched it. She was wavering between shooing him off and allowing him in. On one hand, he had no idea she and the fire-setter were the same person. On the other, she didn't want to give him the evidence to find out. But he had seemed so honest in asking to make friends. Cinder had had her doubts plenty of times before, but Jack changed her mind. Maybe things would have changed for the better.

_And now look, I've given him all the proof he needs!_ Cinder thought bitterly as she shoved her frozen arm under the water in the bathtub. She gritted her teeth and hissed from the sudden change in temperature.

"That wasn't very ladylike," Jack snickered.

Cinder whipped her head around and glared. "You don't know anything about me."

"That's why I wanted to talk to you," Jack backed off.

"Why don't you just go back to the other _Guardians_," she spat her emphasis. "Isn't it like a job of yours?"

But when she looked over in his direction again, she saw a hint of sadness on his face, quickly replaced by anger. Cinder could also see that he was biting his lip rather harshly. Whatever resentment he felt, Cinder thought she could identify with it. She knew what it was like to be shunned, if that was the case. Jack grimaced, holding his arm delicately. Maybe he was hurt pretty badly after all.

"Sorry," Cinder apologized, "I didn't know you weren't working with them."

"I am working with them," Jack corrected, "I just... left the last meeting a little early."

"That's an odd reason to be upset," Cinder commented, poking and prodding her bad arm with her good one. The pale color was beginning to return, but it still felt useless. Looking at her ring that was now under the water, she noticed it has a certain bluish-green glow to it, and the specks flitted in jagged patterns. She'd never seen it move around so much before.

"They want to remain complacent," Jack explained, bringing her thoughts back to him.

"And you don't," Cinder ascertained. "So, what's the issue they don't want to address, then?"

Jack held his breath and stiffened, still standing in the doorway. It seemed like he didn't want to disclose the issue, so Cinder didn't continue to ask. Instead, she raised her arm out of the water and tried to clench her fist. The fingers were resistant at first, but she was able to move them slowly. Dunking her hand back in the water, she slowly heated the water so that Jack wouldn't notice.

Jack walked into the room and sat, perched like an owl, on the toilet's lid. Letting go of his breath, he answered, "There's this spirit, his name's Pitch, the Nightmare King. He rose up four years ago and tried to make the children of the world stop believing in the Guardians."

"Which would be Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny?"

"And the Sandman," Jack added. "Pitch succeeded in getting Sandy, though," Jack's voice trailed off momentarily, emotion thick in the air, "but he came back because we were able to get the children to believe again."

"Why did he want the children to stop believing?" Cinder couldn't help the curiosity slipping into her question. Pitch never told her his plans. He always left suddenly and came back just the same way. She knew he fed off of fear, which was where she helped, but she had no clue why he would try and stop kids from believing. Wouldn't that hurt him, too?

"A Guardian's power comes from the children. If the children stop believing in them, they become weak. Pitch planned to finish them off."

Cinder tried to hide her surprise by gritting her teeth and poking her arm under the water. Pitch never mentioned the Guardians, but surely he would never kill, would he? Pitch didn't strike Cinder as the killing type. He was dark and sometimes scary, sure, but deadly? "Wait, you said 'them.' Didn't you say you were a Guardian, too?"

"I wasn't at the time."

"Oh, a newbie," Cinder snickered and peered at him in the corner of her eyes.

Jack rolled his eyes and twirled his staff. "Yeah, sure," Jack answered, "some of them have been Guardians longer than I've been a spirit."

Cinder pulled her arm out and unplugged the drain. "What were you before?" It was supposed to be a joke, but Jack took it seriously.

Jack knit his brows. "Human."

Cinder's eyes widened in shock before she could recover and she wished she could have hidden it. Formerly a human? That was impossible. Cinder didn't remember anything before she awoke underneath the burned house. She figured she was always a spirit. But if Jack was a spirit, and he had once been human, did that mean she used to be human, too? She couldn't just ask him. For all she knew, he still thought of her as some strange human girl who could see him despite being older than most believers.

"What's wrong?" Jack leaned in.

"Nothing," Cinder snapped, turning toward the door and marching down the hallway. "I'm going back to bed. You go and freeze a lake or something."

"So you believe in me?" Jack leaned into the bedroom doorway after she had walked through, his face lit up excitedly.

Cinder sighed. "I believe you are Jack Frost," she admitted hesitantly, "the spirit of winter." She hated to say it, but now she knew it was true. If his ice and her fire reacted that violently, then there was definitely something weird happening.

"Thank you very much," Jack bowed, then held his hurt arm and winced again.

"Do you want me to check that?" Cinder offered before she realized what she said. She didn't want to get anywhere close to this guy, why was she offering help?

Jack mulled it over briefly. "Just don't touch it," he warned.

Cinder pulled the gloves off the bed. "Your gift came in handy," she said smugly as she slipped them on. "They fit nicely," she murmured as her way of quiet thanks.

"You're welcome," Jack hissed as Cinder grabbed his burned arm unexpectedly. "And that hurt."

Cinder hushed him and looked over his arm. It was still fairly cold, which Cinder felt thoroughly now and it made her ill just holding it. Now that she knew what the cold was, she wished it had never existed. It hurt, a lot. His arm, however, had burn marks that raked the inside of his arm, missing every vein, thankfully. It could use some ice, but Jack claimed his hurt.

"I'll go get you an ice pack," Cinder let go of his arm carefully.

"Ice didn't work," Jack complained.

"_Your_ ice didn't work," Cinder corrected him.

"How do you know that's the case?"

Cinder bit her lip. She knew because she found her fire didn't work on her arm, but she wasn't going to tell him that. "I don't. Come on, I'm assuming you've been in this house before?"

"Jamie's a good friend," Jack answered.

Cinder nodded. "I thought as much."

They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jack sat down on a nearby stool with his burned arm in his lap while Cinder searched in the dark for the freezer handle. It was completely dark downstairs, so she quickly lit a candle that was on the counter next to the fridge before Jack could notice what she did. Opening the freezer, she squinted at the sudden light and began rummaging through its contents. Frozen peas, carrots, and some whipped cream container that smelled like fish. It probably was fish. _Gross. _Closing the freezer door, she held out an ice pack to Jack, who took it skeptically.

It was then that Jamie's dog growled from the living room. Cinder walked over to the doorway and hissed at the greyhound, threatening that if Abby didn't stay quiet she'd make her stay quiet. The dog peered into the kitchen and growled again, lower. _As if I couldn't hear you, damn dog. I wonder if she sees Jack? Can animals see spirits?_ Deciding after a third growl that Abby could, in fact, see Jack Frost, Cinder herded the dog back into the living room and told her to lie down. A few tries later, and Cinder was able to walk back into the kitchen without Abby making another fuss. She walked back to the other side of the island and sat down, watching to see what Jack did.

Visibly bracing himself, Jack had set the ice pack on top of his arm, which almost looked like it was smoking underneath the ice pack. Grimacing, he held it there without complaining.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Jack spoke. "It's helping, thanks."

"Don't mention it," Cinder looked away, hand leaning against the counter. "When you're done, just put it back in the freezer and let yourself out," she said as she turned toward the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Jack almost sounded scared.

"Going back to bed, what does it look like?"

"Can't you stay and talk for a bit?" Jack's eyes pleaded. They were still _too blue_, but Cinder shook it off.

"I... I don't know. It's late, I'm tired, and I've got to get them up and go shopping; there's no food in the house, and I─"

"Well, I can't help with the shopping," Jack interrupted, "but I can get Jamie and Sophie to school. I'll let you sleep in."

"You really don't want to go back to the Guardians, do you?" Cinder raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Not yet, no," Jack admitted sheepishly.

Cinder smiled, turned around, and sat on a stool across from Jack. She couldn't believe herself. Why was she allowing herself to get close to this guy? He was basically her enemy, or at least Pitch's enemy. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hate him completely. But imprisoning the only one who understood her and cared for her... she wasn't exactly on level ground with Jack. Letting the anger slip before it turned into panic, she exhaled. "Alright, talk."

Jack tapped his fingers against the ice pack, thinking quickly. "How about a game instead?"

"What?" Cinder threw up a hand. "Jack, I just said I was tired. I'm in no shape to play a game."

"Just something simple then, like Truth or Dare," Jack suggested.

"What are you, twelve?" Cinder raised her voice incredulously. "No way, next idea."

"Wait," Jack stopped her by holding up his free hand, "we'll use a coin. Do you have one?"

Cinder made a show of checking her thin nightclothes. "Gee, I must have left my purse upstairs," she threw up her hands in mock defeat. "No, I don't."

"Okay, okay," Jack placated, rubbing his fingers together. "What about this?" He held up a cap to a drink Jamie must have opened earlier that day. "The top of the cap is for truth, the inside of the cap is for dare. Whoever wins the call asks the question, which means more than one question can be asked by the same person in a row if they keep calling the correct side," he explained.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Are we really playing this?"

"It's your choice," Jack raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

Cinder sighed and waved her hand forward. "Guest first," she gestured.

Jack smiled mischievously. He tossed the cap up and held it there with his staff focusing the wind in that area. "Heads," he called.

Cinder glared at him again. "You little cheater," she mouthed. He could call the wind just like her. He flew like her. They were more alike than she figured. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "Tails," she called louder.

When Jack let the wind die down, the cap landed with the flat top pointing upward. "Look who gets the first question!" Jack winked.

Cinder pursed her lips. "Alright, fine. So that's truth?" She wasn't sure she wanted to play the game anymore. However, if she backed out, she couldn't be sure that Jack wouldn't be at least a little suspicious.

Jack nodded and thought carefully. "What's your real name?"

Cinder laughed shortly. "Wait, really? You could've asked anything! It's Cinder."

"Full name," Jack clarified.

"McAllister," Cinder answered automatically, but Jack wasn't buying it. He looked at her as if expecting a better lie. However, Cinder didn't have one.

"Alright, I don't have one. It's just Cinder."

"Parents gave you up or something?"

"I'd still have a last name if that were the case."

"So, no last name? No middle name, either?"

Cinder shook her head. The question was surprisingly personal, and she was scared that he would try and prod further. Her name was given to her by Pitch because she didn't think she had one, but she wasn't about to disclose that piece of information. But now that she knew spirits were once human... "What about you?"

"It's my question," Jack reminded her, "but if you really want to know, it's Jackson."

"Reasonable conclusion: 'Jack' to 'Jackson.' Were you tired of saying so many syllables?" Cinder commented with a smirk.

"Jackson Overland, originally. Frost can be added after," he finished.

The name sent Cinder into an inward panic spiral. The name echoed in her mind and resounded louder with each passing second. It shouldn't have been familiar, but it was and for some reason Cinder couldn't get rid of the thoughts nagging at her consciousness. It sent goose bumps up her arms, including her bad arm, which still hurt a little bit. A lump in her throat formed and without knowing why, she gasped. Her heartbeat quickened and she bit her lip down hard to keep it from showing. She swore he could hear her heart pounding against her ribcage. Knowing she couldn't readily speak, Cinder simply nodded and held out her gloved hand for the cap. She really hoped Jack couldn't see what was going on inside her mind.

"None of your wind this time," Cinder was able to choke out in a low voice. Jack withdrew his hands from the table and set his staff down on the floor. "Tails," she called again, softly this time.

"Heads."

It landed on heads for the second time. Cinder was almost relieved. She was in no state of mind to think of any type of question. On the other hand, it was another Truth question. Hopefully it wasn't anything too deep.

"How old are you?"

_Are you serious?_ Cinder hated how the simplest questions were still problematic. Thankfully, this one wasn't a complete lie, as far as she knew. "Eighteen," she was able to answer smoothly. The small panic had subsided.

"Seventeen," Jack said, and then Cinder realized he was answering it back. _He's a year younger than me? Well, if we were both human. I have no idea about the years of spirits._

"I don't think the spirit of winter is seventeen years old," Cinder said quizzically.

"Three hundred and twenty-one," Jack corrected himself. "I was three hundred and seventeen four years ago."

"Well, that must have been a lovely birthday," Cinder smirked.

"Yeah well, I received a pretty great gift," Jack smiled, looking off in no particular direction. Cinder almost thought he was sad, but the smile seemed off.

"What was it?" Cinder decided to ask.

"My memories," Jack answered, looking back at her, "from when I was human."

Cinder lost all control then. Without a filter, she reached across the table and drew her face close to his, which was unbearably frigid. "You can regain those?" she asked urgently.

"Yeah," Jack was startled, "the Tooth Fairy collects children's teeth because they contain childhood memories. She keeps them in cases and she or the owner of the teeth can access the memories."

Cinder's face lit up. What if she had memories from being a human? What if she had a real past?

What if she wasn't Cinder?

The last question jarred her mentally and she fell back into her seat, slumped forward. If everything she knew was a lie, what was she going to do? She lived hundreds of years by the name Cinder, under Pitch's teaching. He gave her everything she knew about herself. But what if he was wrong? Cinder shook her head visibly. Pitch saved her. There's no way he would ever do that to her. Not after what happened with the Walkers... Oh, how badly she wanted a drink.

"Oh," was all she could mutter past the renewed lump in her throat.

"You can ask the next question," Jack changed the subject.

"But we have to flip the cap," Cinder pointed to it.

"I've already asked two, I don't want to accidentally get a third."

"It could always be a dare," Cinder reminded him.

"Fine," he tossed the cap, "heads."

_Again? What does he not want me to ask?_ "Tails," Cinder answered firmly. It landed on tails and Cinder smirked. "Told you," she taunted. "I dare you to make it snow in the room," she asked with no hesitation. She wanted to see him actually use his magic, and she was curious to see exactly how magical it was.

"That's it?" Jack laughed as he picked his staff up off the floor. He pointed it toward the ceiling and what looked like ice shot out of the top of the curve in the staff. Suddenly, the room flashed a soft white and from the ceiling dropped a few lazy snowflakes. Then more began to fall. A peaceful quiet settled into the room as hundreds of snowflakes twinkled and swirled in circles and zigzags. When they landed near Cinder, however, they instantly melted and dampened her hair and her skin. In the back of her mind, she hoped that Jack wouldn't notice. But at the moment, she felt light and comforted, surrounded by the rest of the snow that wasn't melting. When each flake landed on a surface, they dissipated in blue sparkles without a trace. The best part, however, was that this snow wasn't cold like Jack, but it wasn't melting as easily, either. Maybe it was because she was so enthralled by them, but she didn't feel the need to think too hard about it. Her green eyes lit up and her hair held a soft moonlight glow around the edges, highlighted by the coppery undertones. When the last snowflake disappeared, she turned to Jack, still smiling in awe.

His pale face and white hair glowed softly, little snowflakes still present and making their home there. The blue eyes were now a brighter blue, and Cinder noticed that they had a snowflake pattern around the pupil that made his eyes more cheerful than she thought was possible. Then there was his smile. It was a lopsided smile that showed his amazingly white teeth. _I bet the Tooth Fairy loves him. _She thought about taunting him, but his face held pure interest, fun, and intrigue that drew Cinder in a trance. He laughed the longer that she looked at him and his cheeks began to turn into a light pink tint.

"What's so funny?" Cinder snapped out of it, some of her heat escaping her, despite her better knowledge.

"It's nothing," Jack was still smiling, but he looked away, "you just actually looked happy. It almost didn't fit you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cinder narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, no," Jack's face turned to mild surprise, "I just meant it seems like you haven't been happy before. It was a nice change."

It was Cinder's turn to blush, but considering her powers, the color in her cheeks was far more noticeable. It was sort of true. The only time she really felt happy was when she could fly around, but that didn't happen unless she wanted to lose sleep or she had a job to do. Both situations meant the happiness couldn't last. But Cinder had given up on feeling that way. Being immortal, she realized, meant giving up many human functions, which included happiness and friendship. She suddenly became cognizant of what was happening, and she frowned.

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Cinder said flatly. She knew the question he was meaning to ask her.

"But we just got started..." Jack's countenance fell momentarily, but he tried to smile again. "Alright," he said quietly. "Goodnight, Cinder."

"Night," she muttered as she turned away and headed up the stairs. "You're taking them to school, remember that! I don't want to wake up before ten tomorrow!"

"Aye, aye," Jack saluted her, even though she was already gone from sight.

Cinder got up into her room and shut the door quietly, then slumped down to the floor and stared out the window. The heat returned to her instantly and she reminded herself of the immense pressure that she kept within her so that Jack wouldn't be overwhelmed. She was worried that he would have questioned her about his burned arm, but he didn't mention a word. It didn't even seem like he was all that worried about it. A tepid frenzy took over her thoughts once again. Jack Frost was once human, and he had memories of those times. Cinder was a spirit, and now she wanted her memories. But first she had to deal with Jack.

He worked for the Guardians. Pitch was imprisoned by the Guardians, and Pitch was her contractor, her protector, and practically her father. By all counts, Cinder and Jack should hate each other. And before the previous night's job, Pitch mentioned that he would contact her again when he could. If he was freed and still needed her, she couldn't let herself get hurt again.

_I will not repeat myself, damn it. I learned the first time, and I will not make this mistake again. _She swore to herself as she crawled over Sophie and into bed that as soon as she had her memories, she would leave everything behind and finish wherever she left off: being alone.

* * *

**A/N: Ten chapters in and they've FINALLY had a full conversation! But don't worry, the rest of the story will not be this slow. From here on out, things are going to get pretty complicated. ;) So please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	11. Bitter Reunion

**Chapter 11** \- _Bitter Reunion_

* * *

Cinder rolled over and blinked her eyes lazily. The entire bed was hers to keep as warm as she liked, and she cherished it. Stretching to her heart's content, she peered at the clock on the nightstand. It read 10:30am and Cinder knew she couldn't be smiling wider. Jack had actually taken the kids to school and let her sleep in! She'd have to thank him next time she saw the spirit. Sitting upright, she noticed that she was still wearing the gloves Jack had given her last night. Letting out a short huff of laughter, she took them off and set them on the pillow. Other matters were more pressing.

Cinder absolutely had to find her way to the Tooth Palace soon. She had been there before, four years ago, on a job for Pitch, although she never remembered accepting it in the first place. He needed help strengthening his nightmares and getting access into the palace, and she was able to do just that. The tooth cases, he said, were the goal. They were important for his grand plan, but he never explained why. Cinder figured he had his reasons and did as he said because she wanted to get it over with. He had berated her for days to do the job, and she learned, not for the first time, that it was better to do as she was told.

But now, Cinder knew what the teeth were for. She had given Pitch access to the memories of millions of children, including Jack's and possibly her own. Pitch may have even found hers. She wanted to ask him, but she knew better than to call on him. He never answered. He did whatever he pleased without telling her for these few hundred years, but she was expected to wait on him for every second of every day should he need her. That required a flexible schedule which also made finding jobs difficult.

Cinder had gotten downstairs and into the fridge when she realized what she had to do that day. The fridge was practically empty and there was very little in the cabinets. The $150 that Mrs. Bennett had given her would be completely spent if Cinder was going to keep the house running. She wasn't used to such responsibility, and sneered when she realized it meant going out in public.

Walking into her room, Cinder realized she didn't have clean clothing. Normally, her two sets were enough because no one saw her that often anyway. Now, she had to wear something different or get more weird looks. She walked over to Mrs. Bennett's room and opened the door quietly. The room was pristine and painted a light blue. Cinder walked in carefully, making sure she didn't mess anything up. Once she reached the closet, she paused. Was she really going to steal their mother's clothing? _Not steal, borrow. _She doubted that they were even the same size. That and the kids might recognize some of the pieces. Taking a deep breath, she dug through to the farthest ends of the closet, hoping to find clothing that may not have been worn often. She found a dark green skirt and black leggings and decided that would have to do.

As she was about to leave the house, Cinder remembered that she would have to wear her sweater. She knew she was bound to get stares anyway, but she wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible. A wool sweater with a loose skirt looked odd, but Cinder didn't particularly care. It was just the store. She could do this.

The town's grocery store was a mile within the town, but it took Cinder longer because the roads were not straight and simple and she clearly did not know the way. Just as she had predicted, people were staring at her from across the streets and in passing. They were all wearing heavy winter jackets and boots and hats and mittens and all she had were the slim gloves that Jack had given her.

Eventually, she found the brick building with the word "Grocery" written on the sign and walked inside. The air was considerably warmer, not that it mattered to her, but less looks were pointed her way as a result. Pulling a cart out from the line within the store, she started her way down the aisles. Without a list, Cinder just put whatever sounded alright in the cart and kept walking. She had collected milk, juice, apples, oranges, lettuce, tomatoes, spaghetti, among other randomly selected items and was about to reach up for a box of cereal when someone else's hand shot out and knocked the box away from her.

"Excuse me that was ru─" Cinder cut herself short when she turned to see who had done it. Beside her stood a tall boy with stark white hair and a mischievous grin. "Really, Jack?" she whispered, realizing others wouldn't see him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jack feigned apology with a conspicuous smile, "was that cereal yours?"

"Funny," Cinder huffed as she bent down and picked up the box, dropping it in the cart. She pushed onward, ignoring the winter spirit behind her. His presence felt truly cold to Cinder, and it spooked her. Jack had no reason to be here, but she wasn't about to ask. Last night still left an odd feeling in the back of her mind and she didn't want to deal with it yet.

"Aw," Jack said behind her, "are you going to give me the silent treatment? I had another question that I didn't get to ask you last night."

Cinder still didn't talk, but not because she was trying to ignore him now. A weight fell in her chest and goose bumps were spreading from her neck down to her toes, raising hairs on end. Her eyes darted around, searching for what had set her off. Not finding it, Cinder realized that she was losing her balance. The floor suddenly appeared closer than the shelf sign she had been looking at moments before. Something cinched around her waist and Cinder lurched, heaving her chest in shock. Another second flew by and she was sitting on the ground, her back thudding against a wall of canned green beans.

"Are you okay, Cinder?" Jack sounded worried. "You just sort of, fell... Cinder?"

But Cinder couldn't respond. The edges of her vision were going black and she was afraid she was going to pass out. Scratching the floor in an attempt to hold onto something, she began to hyperventilate. The fear climbed higher and higher and she was dimly aware of the white-haired boy trying to shake an answer out of her.

"Cinder, do you want me to get you help? Cinder? Answer me!"

"Get... away from... me," Cinder managed to get the words to tumble out of her mouth. The panic was making her skin itch and crawl, and she knew Pitch was trying to contact her. But there was no way for her to talk to him here, especially not with Jack right next to her.

"What?"

"Go!" Cinder yelled rather loudly and pushed Jack's chest with brute force, knocking him back. People started to look down the aisle to see a redhead sitting against the shelf talking to no one but herself. "Damn it, leave me alone!" She got up and ran out of the store, paying no mind to the many people turning their heads in her direction.

Once she got outside, the brisk air was almost welcoming. Cinder ran around to the back of the building and tripped over a rock, landing in the alley between two buildings. Scrambling to lean against the side of the store, Cinder's stomach tumbled and heaved with the intense emotions that washed over her.

"Alright, Pitch," Cinder spat out, "talk to me, already."

"Afternoon, sunshine," Pitch's voice rang out ironically.

"I hate you," Cinder breathed heavily. Every call was like this, and Cinder wished he would just use a simple "hello" rather than giving her a heart attack every time.

"Why, my feelings are rather hurt," Pitch sounded offended, "I thought you'd have answered sooner, so I figured you weren't getting the message and tried a little harder."

"Don't waste your energy like that," Cinder had cleared her mind some, "I was in the store."

"They have you running their errands, now?" the amusement purred in his voice.

"What was it you wanted, Pitch? Another job?" Cinder did not want to deal with his roundabout way of communication much longer.

"I'm touched by your show of affection," Pitch laughed, "but I'm afraid you won't get to burn anything down today."

"That's unfortunate," Cinder sighed. She actually felt like she could use some more practice. "What's the deal with calling me, then?"

"I need you to meet me somewhere," Pitch said nonchalantly, but Cinder picked up on the message.

"You broke out? You're free? Pitch, where are you?" Cinder was excited. She had questions for him that she could now disclose in person.

"Calm down, fire breath," he stopped her, "I'll tell you. But first and foremost, make sure that no one follows you."

That's when Cinder realized that she had to meet with him as the kids were getting home from school. She still had to buy the food she was supposed to be getting now, and she had left Jack in the store. Panicking again, she prayed that Jack wouldn't find her like this.

Pitch relayed the information and dismissed Cinder as someone tapped her shoulder. Turning, she saw an old woman holding several bags of groceries.

"Young lady, are you alright? I saw you leaving the store in a hurry and left your cart. I took the liberty of getting them for you," she set them down feebly and with great effort. Her wrinkled features were smiling with concern. "You don't have to repay me. I'm just making sure you're alright. Do you want any help, dear?"

"No, thank you," Cinder was mystified. How did the woman find her? "I'm sorry about causing so much worry. Uh, thank you for this. Are you sure you don't want payment? There was a lot of food in the cart..."

"No, no, dear," the old woman waved Cinder's apology away, "just see to it that you get home safely."

Cinder hesitantly nodded and took the bags. Why were the old people here so nice to her? Ever since the incident with the Walkers, Cinder had been welcomed by practically every old person that met her. It was strange and Cinder didn't know what to make of it. The old woman walked away and left Cinder to ponder the events that had just transpired. She must have looked like a crazy schizophrenic in the store. If she ever had to go shopping again, she swore that this store would not be on her list.

"Hey, there you are!" Jack flew in beside her. "Are you okay? Are you going to tell me what happened back there?"

"I'm sorry. That happens sometimes. The panic attacks, I mean. It's sort of a long story," Cinder fumbled over her excuses in the hopes that Jack would shrug it off.

Jack raised an eyebrow and leaned in close. "Are you sure you're not just crazy? I mean..." he looked around cautiously, "you see spirits," he added as he chuckled.

Cinder elbowed him in the ribs. "That's what you get for scaring me."

"I scared you?" Jack held his side where Cinder hit him. "How?"

"Shut up," Cinder readjusted her grip on the bags and headed back to the house.

"Hey, hey," Jack floated next to her, "I'm sorry if I did all of that. I didn't mean to; just a little fun is all."

"I'm laughing so hard right now," Cinder remarked sarcastically.

Jack rolled his eyes and followed her in silence. "How's your arm?"

Cinder's throat dried up and she had to force herself to remember the other night. When Jack and she had touched hands, their powers seemed to have had adverse effects on the other. Jack froze her arm and Cinder burned his. But Jack hadn't questioned the reason for that, seeing as he had no idea she was also a spirit. But Cinder realized that the subject had to pop up again at some point. "It's fine, a little numb, but usable. Yours?"

"It's healing," Jack answered absently, "but it'll need another ice pack."

Cinder nodded. They walked in deafening silence. She made sure that each step she took was heavier than her usual step. She was supposed to be a human carrying heavy bags, not an airy, feathery-light spirit. Jack maintained his light steps beside her, hardly making a noise. Little fractals of ice swirled around each time his feet left the ground. The snow that seemed to just appear around him flurried around, but noticeably away from her. Cinder wondered if Jack was catching on to her, but decided not to think much about it. If she acted like he was on to her, surely he might pick up the hint? The air between them was... different. Tense and awkward, it felt like static could have electrified them if either spoke out too soon. They walked in this fashion until they were just a block away from the house.

"Hey, Cinder?"

That's when Cinder remembered that she had to meet Pitch immediately and cut Jack off. "Jack! Can you watch the kids for a little while after they come back from school? I have some business to attend to."

Jack looked at her in bewilderment. "What?"

"Pleeeaaaase," Cinder drew out the world in the most innocent sounding voice she could gather. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I do need to get back to the Guardians soon. You realize that, right?"

"Bring me to them and I'll explain everything if I have to," Cinder was urgent.

"Okay, relax. You don't need to go that far," Jack placated her.

"Well, you don't really want to go back just yet, do you?" Cinder raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Jack looked away and shook his head reluctantly. "I'm still looking for answers, though, and doing your job doesn't exactly help me."

"Then I'll do just that after I get back. Just could you please watch them?" They were walking up to the house now.

"No problem," Jack held open the door for her, "just don't collapse again. I can't catch you if I'm here with the kids."

"Thanks," Cinder muttered as she set down the groceries on the counter and began putting them away. "Just don't destroy the house."

"Can't promise that one," Jack winked and grinned.

Cinder smirked, but headed back to the door before she said something else. "I'll be back soon!"

Closing the door with more force than she anticipated, Cinder ran down the walkway and toward the pond. Sliding down the slushy hill, she regretted not putting on different shoes. Not that she had a second pair of shoes, but she had already taken a skirt and leggings from their mother so shoes wouldn't have been a huge deal. Her feet were soaked by the time she reached the edge of the pond. Sending internal flames downward, she dried her shoes and was about to jump across the pond when a thought occurred. It was bright daylight and if anyone saw her clear the pond in one bound, issues might arise. Not sensing a soul, she took the chance and leapt anyway. She landed on the cliff that hung over the back edge of the pond and began running again.

_There will be a clearing a little ways further in the forest, just past the pond in Burgess. _Pitch had been about to explain to her where Burgess was when she spoke up, saying that Burgess was where she was working currently. Pitch's voice seemed intrigued and puzzled at the same time, but Cinder knew he wasn't going to question her about it just yet. He would probably ask when she got to him.

It was going to be the first time in four years that she would see Pitch. Apprehension crawled through her and Cinder wasn't sure what she expected. He wouldn't have changed significantly; spirits don't change easily or willingly. But she had questions for him: questions about her past, questions about the Guardians, and questions about Pitch's plans, both previous and current. Similarly, Pitch would question her endlessly about what she had been doing, and she was worried that Jack would turn up as a subject. Whatever happened before, she needed to know everything. Pitch may not be the kindest, but he raised Cinder and taught her everything she knew. There was a sense of obligation that tugged at her heart, and it tore her in several different directions.

Reaching the crest of a small hill, Cinder leaned against a small birch tree and took a breath. Just down the hill, the trees cleared away and broken boards were scattered among the dead grass and mud and snow. But what puzzled Cinder more was the gaping hole in the center, devoid of light. It looked out of place, and Cinder walked over cautiously to get a better look. Pitch had said nothing about a large hole in the ground, so she figured it must be a new thing. But it was too big for any animal to dig up, and it looked like it went on forever. Leaning in a little closer, the ground crumbled beneath her and her yelp echoed around her as she was sucked down the hole that went on forever.

Suddenly the walls that surrounded Cinder disappeared. She was in a wide, dark cavern that was etched out within the earth. Tumbling and falling awkwardly, she sat up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. Mrs. Bennett would be furious if Cinder didn't clean that out before she got home. Her eyes were still getting used to the darkness and she couldn't see much beyond her fingertips. When her eyes adjusted, Cinder saw that she was actually standing on a bridge between two sides of the cavern and that the real depth went much, much farther down below. Thankful that she didn't have to feel the panic of falling any longer than she already had, she let out a relieved sigh.

Shadows flew past her and her heart stopped briefly. Recovering, she ran to one end of the bridge and slimmed herself against the wall, trying to steady her rapidly beating heart. When she felt she was calm and collected, she peered to the left, not seeing anything worth noting. She was about to check her right when someone whispered words in her ear.

"It's nice to see you again, my dear Cinder."

"Pitch!" Cinder circled around on her heel. The dark spirit was just as she remembered him. Ashen skin covered his sullen facial features and hands. His black robe faded into the floor, making distinct definition of his legs impossible to discern. His yellow eyes glowed in the dark and revealed warmth for the briefest of moments. Immediately, however, it was replaced with the familiar cold, calculating gaze. Without thinking, Cinder wrapped her arms around him suddenly. "Oh, Pitch! You're alright!"

Pitch patted Cinder's back and pushed her back awkwardly. It had been years since she'd shown such gratitude for his well-being. "Yes, that last job of yours went well, I can assume?" Pitch raised an eyebrow, brushing dirt off his sleeves.

Cinder choked down her thoughts of Jack and tried to muffle the skipped heartbeat that thudded in her chest. If Pitch was given the slightest evidence that she was lying, she would never see the end of it. "It went well, sir."

"Ah, excellent!" Pitch snapped his fingers and began walking back over the bridge. "Let's get going, I'll tell you what I need you to do on the way."

"Actually," Cinder bit her lip and stood stock still, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?" Pitch turned around and looked at her questioningly.

Cinder cleared her throat so that she could speak with conviction. There had to be a way to circle around to the question she really wanted to ask. "I was just wondering if I..." she lost her voice suddenly, "... if I was ever human."

Pitch stared at her incredulously before composing himself again. "Of course, we all were. Why bother with a question like that? I've a plan to be executing. Now come along."

But Cinder wasn't finished. "Then why don't I remember any of it?"

Pitch growled in frustration but tried not to let it show. "Memories are a silly thing."

"Silly or not, I don't have them," Cinder prepared herself for the next part, "and I want them back."

Pitch pursed his lips and looked away in mock thought. "And what makes you think that I have them?"

Cinder paused, unsure of how to proceed. "Wasn't that what the teeth were for? That time I helped you invade the Tooth Palace was so that you could gather all of the children's memories, right?"

"Yes, yes," Pitch was getting bored, "but I never looked through any of them. I never bothered because there were so many of the brats."

Cinder's countenance fell and her stomach felt ill. Pitch's plan for the teeth must have failed, in that case. Then she realized that all she had to do was go to the Tooth Fairy. Hopefully she didn't recognize Cinder. She was couldn't be sure that she hadn't been seen four years ago. Cinder couldn't distinctly remember that mission, but she had a familiarity within her that told her she had done it.

"I wouldn't bother with them if I were you," Pitch spoke as if reading her mind.

"Why not?"

"Memories of being human are useless for those like us." Pitch was beside Cinder suddenly, his arm snug around her shoulders. "All they contain are mundane pieces of information that help no one."

Cinder was about to protest when Pitch looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Now, do you mind telling me why you're in Burgess?" It looked like he already knew the answer.

Cinder was expecting this question, and proceeded with caution. "I told you, it's where I took up my house-sitting job."

Pitch nodded, deep in skeptical thought. "And how is that going? They seem to be working you to death," he chuckled.

"Well, it would have been fine if the mother hadn't left me with the kids, but other than that, it isn't horrendous."

Pitch's interest piqued, albeit weakly. "And do tell me, what are their names? Perhaps they will be the first I visit."

Cinder's brows furrowed. She didn't like the way she had been thrown into the job, either, but she didn't think that the kids were at fault. They didn't deserve the kind of panic and fear that Pitch could induce. Nevertheless, she was compelled by some force to answer the Nightmare King. "Jamie and Sophie Bennett, sir."

At the mention of Jamie, Pitch hissed before he could stop himself. "Have you... _seen_ anyone hanging around them?"

Cinder wasn't sure, but she guessed that Pitch was referring to Jack Frost. Whatever aversion he had to the winter spirit, it was powerful. Cinder could feel the atmosphere growing heavier and a headache settled into her head. It was suddenly hard to breathe, and Cinder began to wheeze. Pitch looked down at her hand and saw her ring glowing, sneering in disgust.

"Never mind, let's go," Pitch said and the panic lifted. But before Cinder could react, Pitch had left, probably for the surface. Cinder cursed under her breath and began to climb her way out of the cavern. Flight was useless when all she was going to do was smack into every wall on the way up. Her mind was already jogged enough, and she figured Pitch would go off and do his own thing.

That's when Cinder realized she forgot an important question: what happens to her contract now? She'd have to wait for him to summon her again, and she groaned with the realization that at least one more panic attack was set firmly in her future.

At least she'd be home before the kids came back from school.

* * *

**A/N: Guys! Guys! GUUUYYYSSS! I've written the first chapter to another story! :D But I have a question for you: should the story become the sequel to this one or should it become a separate stand-alone story? I've written it so that it could be mapped out either way. Please let me know what you think!**

**Also a quick reminder: This Friday's posting is going to be late because I'm driving 6 hours home from campus! I can't post in the morning because of an exam. It may just be posted on Saturday instead. We'll see!**

**And as always, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	12. Fun and Games

**Chapter 12** \- _Fun and Games_

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Jack figured that even if he wasn't speaking to the other Guardians, he should still do his job. He could cover a few states in the meantime before he had to be back at Jamie's house. Cinder had asked him to watch Jamie and Sophie while she went out and did something, Jack didn't know what. He was curious and tempted to follow her when he saw Cinder running like a madman out of the house. But he was the spirit of winter and it was the month of January. Jack knew some snow would fall on its own, but he had to help it occasionally. Now would be the best time. It would keep him busy physically and mentally, which was perfect.

Jack was on his way back now when something whizzed by his face as super speed. Bright colors flew around his body momentarily when he stopped. When it slowed, Jack saw an energetic and frantic Baby Tooth fussing over every inch. She squealed and chirped in a rapid succession of messages.

"I'm fine, Baby Tooth," Jack smiled, knowing how much the tooth fairies cared, "and everything's okay. I'm just taking some time away from them."

Baby Tooth piped up disapprovingly.

"I know, I know," Jack sighed, "I just want to give places some snow before I go back. That's my job, you know."

Baby Tooth softened and snuggled under his chin understandingly, but recovered and shook her finger at him.

"I promise I will, okay?" Jack put his hand up on his honor. "Can you tell Tooth I'm sorry? I know she was especially upset. Oh! And can you bring something to Tooth for me?"

Baby Tooth nodded gravely because she knew Tooth was particularly distraught by Jack's leaving. Then she brightened up, gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek, and asked what it was he was giving to Tooth.

"I don't have it on me, but if you go to the pond in Burgess, it's in a little pocket on the cliff. Tell Tooth it's an apology."

Baby Tooth rolled her eyes, as if to say "yeah, okay."

Jack smirked as he watched the tiny fairy go with a nod. He knew his message would get back to Tooth in little time. If she wasn't always busy, Jack knew that Tooth would probably drag him back to the North Pole herself. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about there being a shortage of newly lost teeth anytime soon.

Taking a deep breath, Jack called to the wind and rode away to Burgess. The wind beat at his face and flew his hair about in haphazard swirls of brisk excitement. The cold shot through his heart and spread to his fingertips in the most familiar way. He closed his eyes and allowed his body to fall face-down toward the ground. The feeling of his stomach lifting as the sensation of falling blew past him was thrilling. Getting close to the pond's surface, he flipped over so his feet touched the ice and fractals splayed across the reflected blues. Laughing breathlessly to himself, he set off for Jamie's house, just up the hill.

Upon reaching the house, Jack debated where to enter from. He had only ever used Jamie's window. Or Cinder's window like last night, but that was just once. He was still thoroughly confused about what Cinder thought of him, whether they were friends or not. One minute, she trusted him, the next she yelled at him. They played a game, and then she pushed him backwards and ran away. Now she's asked him to watch the kids while she did Man-in-the-Moon-only-knows what. If he was going to befriend her, he had to figure out why she acted so hypocritical.

Deciding on the front door, Jack walked up and found it unlocked. He let himself in and set his staff next to the forlorn pile of shoes that lay on a mat nearby. He peered at the clock in the kitchen and saw that he was a little early. The kids wouldn't be back for a few more minutes, so Jack helped himself to walking around, figuring out the best way to surprise them. Perhaps he could cover everything in ice? But that was too obvious. He was in the middle of formulating another plan when someone's voice made him jump.

"I got back early," Jack spun around to see Cinder in the doorway, still wearing the green skirt from earlier, but now Jack saw that it was muddied and caked with dirt. "So you don't have to watch the kids."

"That was pretty quick," Jack commented. "What happened to you?"

Cinder furrowed her brows but then looked down at the state of her clothing. "Oh, that. I slipped and fell on my way..."

"On your way where?" Jack asked when Cinder didn't finish her sentence.

"Separate job interview, but oh, that won't matter if their mother tries to kill me," Cinder tried to wipe some of the dirt away.

"Wait, you stole their mom's skirt?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"I need to do laundry, so I don't really have anything else to wear."

"Sounds like you need more clothes."

"Says the guy who's worn the same outfit since I've met him," Cinder's eyebrow arched at him, accompanied by a smirk.

Jack shrugged. She got him on that one. At that moment, Sophie burst through the door waving a bunch of colored paper around, losing a few scattered pieces.

"Cinder! Cinder─" Sophie stopped in her tracks when she saw Jack. "Jack! What are you doing here?"

Jack was about to answer when Sophie ran up and hugged Cinder around the hips. "Cinder, do you wanna see my homework? I got to do art! Do you wanna see it? You can help, too!" Sophie was a bouncy ball of energy and Cinder nearly toppled over from the contact. Jack looked on the scene with humorous affection. Cinder looked so uncomfortable with Sophie clinging to her, but Sophie was oblivious and only asked more questions.

Cinder pet Sophie's head and said that she would help in a minute. After Sophie ran into the living room to set up the paper and glue and scissors, Jamie walked into the house without saying a word.

"Hey there, kiddo," Jack waved, but then saw that something was off. "Hey, what's got you upset?"

"Hey, Jack," Jamie said dejectedly as he kicked off his shoes and walked past both of them and up the stairs.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Cinder called from the bottom of the stairwell.

"Why would I tell you?" Jamie called back louder before shutting his door.

Cinder put her hands on her hips and turned to Jack with a frustrated look. Picking up on the cue, Jack told her that he would go and see what was wrong with the kid. She mouthed a thank-you and walked into the living room. Jack heard her voice cheer up as she asked Sophie what she was working on, and Jack smiled secretly. Cinder cared, maybe she didn't know it yet, but she cared about these kids.

Walking up to Jamie's room, Jack knocked on the door.

"Go away!" came Jamie's angry voice.

"It's Jack," the spirit called through the crack in the door, "can I come in?"

The scraping of a chair and a few footsteps later, Jamie opened the door solemnly. "Sorry, Jack. Come in," Jamie walked back to his desk and sat down. He was glaring at what looked like homework without picking up the nearby pencil.

"So what's got you so down, Jamie?" Jack said finally after sitting on the teenager's bed and waiting for a response.

"It's Pippa," Jamie said finally, looking over his shoulder at Jack, "she won't answer me."

Jack waved Jamie to continue after a pause.

"She got mad at me for not studying with her," Jamie explained, "I mean, come on, we just got back to school yesterday. Who studies on the second day after vacation?"

Jack laughed and shrugged. "Pippa does, apparently."

"Anyway, I told her there was no reason and she said that she had no one else to work with and that I was the only one that she thought would help. I told her to just study alone and she got all mad and won't talk to me now."

"I'm sure she's just upset you turned her down again," Jack reasoned, a smile flickering on his lips.

"I didn't turn her down, what are you talking ab─" Jamie stopped when he saw Jack thrown back on his bed, laughing loudly. "What's so funny, Jack?"

"Nothing," Jack said as he wiped a tear from his eye. This kid was so naive and oblivious, even though he was already fourteen. Jack was sure that even he was not that bad at fourteen. But when he tried to recall any examples, his mind blanked. "Anyway, come out of your room, I'll get the pond ready and we can play a few games."

"I can't, I've gotta do this homework," Jamie declined.

"What?" Jack almost didn't believe it. Jamie wanted to do homework instead of have fun with Jack Frost? "Are you really turning down a good snowball fight?"

"There's a lot of it," Jamie justified his reasons.

"Well, maybe you should've done your work with Pippa and then you wouldn't have this problem," Jack pointed out.

Jamie tossed a crumbled piece of paper at Jack and laughed. "Get out, Frost," he joked heartily.

Jack took his leave and went back downstairs to the living room to see what damage Sophie had done to the poor Cinder. Upon turning into the doorway, he hung back to watch the event unfolding. Sophie had pieces of colored paper stuck to her arms and glue sticks were strewn around the room with and without caps. On the table rested a variety of purples, pinks, and oranges cut into random shapes and glued together sloppily. Cinder was leaning forward, completely focused on drawing whatever it was on blue paper before going to cut it. She was so focused that she didn't notice Sophie gluing an orange cutout to her nose. Cinder's body jumped in shock, which sent Sophie into giggles. Cinder smiled and laughed back, which Jack thought was incredibly different from the Cinder he had been talking to within the past day or two. Without knowing it, Jack was smiling too and let out a small laugh.

Cinder whipped her head around, the orange paper still stuck to her nose. She tried to give him a grumpy look, but Jack couldn't take her seriously and laughed more. Cinder realized what Jack was laughing at and tore off the piece of paper, tossing it angrily even though it only floated a few inches from her fingertips. Jack laughed again, holding his stomach. A Cinder trying to be serious was a Cinder being hilarious. He thought he was going to be alone in his laughter, but Sophie chuckled and finally Cinder let herself laugh, too.

"So, what was the teenager's issue?" Cinder stood up, leaving Sophie to her own creative devices.

"Girl troubles," Jack explained, "and he's completely clueless. You might have to be the one to talk to him about it."

Cinder huffed laughter. "I wouldn't be any more useful than you," she murmured. "Well, are you going to head back to the Guardians, then?"

Jack held in his breath. He didn't really want to see the Guardians just yet. It had only been a day or so, and Jack didn't feel like that was enough time to let the tension settle down. "Ah... how about we go ice skating instead?"

A look of worry fell over Cinder's features. "I don't know. It's been getting warmer recently. I don't think a certain spirit has been doing his job," she gestured without discretion at Jack.

Jack put his hands up defensively. "I can go freeze it again if that makes you feel safer." Turning to Sophie, he asked, "Do you want to go skating, too, Sophie?"

"Yeah!" Sophie jumped up and ran for her room.

Cinder's face was in shock. "Really, Jack? You're going to make me go, aren't you?"

"That might have been the plan," Jack gave her a lopsided smile.

"Gee, thanks," Cinder rolled her eyes. "I don't even have any skates, Jack."

"You can borrow Jamie's!" Sophie's voice echoed from the top of the stairs. Cinder ran past Jack and he turned to see Sophie holding two pairs of skates and delight written all over her face. Jack looked back at Cinder and saw her skeptical features worsen.

"Relax, the kid has big feet," Jack said.

A faint retort sounded off from the direction of Jamie's room, which made the other three laugh again.

"We'll be back soon, or join us when you're done!" Cinder called as they set out the door.

Jack stopped Cinder, almost touching her bare shoulder. "Weren't you wearing a sweater? And leggings or something?"

"Nice of you to take notice," Cinder batted her eyelashes and grabbed her sweater off the counter.

Jack felt his face reddening suddenly. He didn't mean to comment on Cinder's body, but that was the way she took it and Jack was embarrassed. He was standing still in the doorway until he saw Cinder turn her head toward him and laugh. It was then he found out she was joking again and he grabbed his staff and ran to catch up to her, elbowing her gently. She shrugged him off and that's when he saw it again: the black scar. It was barely visible, but he swore it was there. Last night wasn't just a trick of the light.

Hopping over the hill, Jack landed on the ice without any recognition of weight bearing down on the surface. Turning around in a slow circle, Jack tapped his staff onto the ice several times and sent ice patterns swirling around him, making the ice thicker. He looked to Sophie and Cinder to see that the former already had her skates on and the latter was staring at Jack in wonder. It was nearly the same look she had given him the previous night when he made it snow in the kitchen. Her face looked peaceful and amazed for once, seeing as her usual face was either neutral or sneering, as far as Jack was concerned. That was when he knew making her smile was a great game that he liked to win.

But then her features became quizzical. "Jack, I don't know about this," she said as Sophie headed out toward Jack. Jack took her and spun her a few times before letting her go skate on her own.

"Just hop on, the ice won't melt," Jack answered back, "at least, not while I'm around."

Cinder rolled her eyes and Jack wasn't quite sure why. He saw her take a deep breath and step onto the pond with a tentative skate. Her second skate touched the ice and she looked up at Jack in surprise. It reminded him of the time he taught his sister to ice skate all those years ago. Smiling, he began to slide over to her on his bare feet.

That's when Cinder's feet fell through. A scared yelp escaped her lips before Jack caught her under her arms with his sleeves over his hands just in case. He didn't want to put her in more shock. His own thoughts were in a similar state because the scene unfolding before him was incessantly familiar, and not in the right way. An incredible heat surrounded Cinder, but Jack was preoccupied and didn't take notice. Her chest heaved underneath him as he pulled her out and set her back on the ice. She scrambled away from him and fell over a rock and hit the side of the hill. Jack stared at her in confusion and looked back at where Cinder fell. The ice had melted through, much to Jack's surprise. _How did this happen?_ Jack looked back at Cinder and narrowed his brows. Cinder's eyes were wild with fear and it didn't look like she was breathing.

"Hey," Jack knelt down by her side, "it's alright. It's not your fault."

Cinder's eyes bore into him with faint recognition. She slowly nodded, and Jack was unsure whether she meant that it was her fault or that she agreed with him that it wasn't. Jack decided that it was the latter and offered a hand to her.

Thankfully, Cinder had her gloves on and took his hand absent-mindedly. He saw that Cinder had discarded the sweater on a nearby rock. _She won't wear her sweater but she'll wear her gloves?_ Jack decided to take the gesture as a compliment, since he was the one who gave her those gloves, and helped her stand up. Freezing the ice over again, he tried to guide her back onto the pond. Her hand went with his, but the rest of her did not budge. He turned back to her and gave her a questioning look.

"I don't think I should go back on the ice," she said nervously, "I seem to have bad luck."

"Nonsense," Jack waved off her comment. "Everybody needs to have a little fun! Come on, Sophie's waiting for you."

Cinder looked past Jack and he could tell she was watching Sophie because her features became softer the longer she looked. "Alright," Cinder finally acquiesced, "I'll do it."

Jack saw Cinder suck in a long breath and hold it in as she took her first two steps back onto the ice. Her balance took a second, but then she was standing straight. Jack noticed he was still holding her hand to steady her and let go carefully, hoping she hadn't noticed it. A large amount of heat left his palm and it froze once again. Jack furrowed his brow at the sudden temperature change but decided to neglect it and glide forward.

"Can you make it here?" Jack asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"I'm not that bad," Cinder kicked off and raced for him. Just as she was about to catch him, Jack smirked and darted away toward Sophie, who was on the other side of the pond. He heard Cinder's frustrated growl behind him and he laughed. Turning toward Cinder and running backward, he conjured a small snowball and tossed it in her direction. It landed square in her face and Cinder fumed. Jack laughed and was about to turn back when out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw his snow melting instantaneously, making Cinder's face soaked. Jack thought it was weird but shrugged it off for the moment.

Jack turned his attention to Sophie and saw that she was heading straight for him. He stopped and scooped her up in the air, spinning her before setting her back on the track she was on before, this time straight for Cinder. Just as Jack saw Cinder's face register the change in events, Cinder deftly spun on the tips of her skates to avoid collision and as she was recovering, she shot out her hand and gripped Sophie's arm, swinging her around in a pattern that was more intricate and difficult than necessary. Jack's jaw dropped.

"I thought you were a beginner," Jack said. He was not quite sure if he had witnessed things right.

"I guess I'm not," Cinder laughed as she finished spinning and let go of Sophie, who was giggling.

"What do you mean, you guess? No one's that good on their first try. Not even on hockey skates," Jack pointed out. Figure skates would have made that tight spin possible, but not Jamie's old hockey skates.

Cinder looked down at her feet and frowned. "I don't know, it was fun though," she smiled and took off again. Jack watched as Cinder began spinning again without a hint of falling or losing her balance. She then tried jumping, spinning on one leg, and other random tricks that Jack figured she made up on the spot. Cinder's skirt flowed and twisted and lifted with every move she slid through effortlessly. Her hair flowed freely and whipped around her face and neck and arms in a bright orange blur. The gracefulness with which Cinder spun entranced Jack. It was an achingly familiar dance that racked his brain, trying to make him remember. Nothing came to mind, but he still stared after her in amazement.

Catching himself off guard, Jack recovered by bringing Sophie closer. Whispering in her ear, Sophie's grin widened devilishly. She nodded excitedly and held out her hands. Jack made some snowballs and set them in her hands. Jack made some snowballs for himself and hid behind a rock on one side of the pond. He waited until Cinder was closer and sent the signal. "Now!"

Cinder whipped her head toward Jack as Sophie sent three snowballs in succession at Cinder's back. Cinder yelped in surprise and spun toward Sophie who screamed and skated away as fast as she could. Jack took his chance and flew up next to Cinder who was focused blindly on Sophie. Holding a snowball in front of her face, Jack stopped abruptly, thinking that she would smack right into the snow and they would all laugh. Instead, Cinder scraped the ice and spun around Jack, clothes-lining him and driving the air out of his stomach. Jack smirked and spun around her, slapping a snowball at the back of her neck and watching it melt down her shirt. Cinder's shriek sent him into a laughing fit. They both fell onto the ice.

Sophie saw the entire thing unfold and skated over to them. "That was so cool! Do it again! Do it again!" she screeched as she fell over Cinder's legs.

Jack saw Cinder's face harden for a moment and then relax as she hoisted Sophie back on her feet. "I don't much appreciate ice sliding down my back; maybe another time, Sophie."

Sophie let out a disappointed sigh and sat back down, lying in between Jack and Cinder. Jack smirked and looked in Cinder's direction again. He noticed that she was holding her breath and making a visible effort, but for what Jack had no clue. Maybe it had something to do with the scar. Perhaps she had surgery earlier in life or something else traumatic and it made breathing harder for her. He was about to ask when a flash of blinding light made him wince. He knew instantly what it was.

One of the Guardians had used a globe to come and retrieve him. _So much for having fun,_ Jack frowned.

"You thought now was a good time?" Jack stood up. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sophie and Cinder also stand.

"We need ya back at the North Pole, mate," a familiar Australian accent responded. The intense light subsided and Bunny stood with his arms crossed, tapping the ice impatiently.

"Easter Bunny! Easter Bunny!" Sophie scrambled toward the giant rabbit, hugging his thigh tightly.

"Ankle-biter!" Bunny rubbed Sophie's head in recognition. "Gee, it's been awhile, ay mate? You've gotten tallah." Ignoring Cinder, Bunny turned toward Jack again, "Come on Jack, this is important."

Before Jack could say or do anything, Cinder's voice piped up. "What the hell are you?" Jack saw Cinder skate right up to Bunny without flinching, even though Bunny was easily taller than her.

Bunny looked flabbergasted. "She can see me? Frost, who's the sheila?"

"Why don't you ask the 'sheila' instead of Jack, you giant kangaroo?" Cinder's annoyance was noticeable.

Jack let out a snort, trying and failing to hide the laughter.

"I am _not_ a kangaroo, mate," Bunny poked her. "I am the Easter Bunny. Did you tell her to say that, Jack?"

Cinder visibly gulped but rolled her eyes to try and cover up the reaction. "Yeah, I figured. But what's the Easter Bunny doing at the North Pole?"

Bunny stared at a hysterical Jack in confusion. "What the bloody hell is going on here, Jack? Who is she?"

"Again, I'm right here! The name's Cinder," she held out her hand and Jack laughed again as Bunny hesitantly took it.

"Pleasure," Bunny bowed his head quickly and took his hand away, shaking it gingerly. "Jack, we don't have time. Ya need to get up to the North Pole _now_."

"What's going on, Bunny?" Jack asked, not moving an inch.

Bunny looked at Sophie and then nodded to Cinder, who took the hint and covered Sophie's ears. Sophie tried to get away fitfully, but it wasn't working.

"Pitch is back," Bunny said at last, "and he's given us a message."

Jack gripped his staff tightly and grimaced. He knew he had wasted time here instead of continuing his search, and now he berated himself for not being useful. The fire guy had succeeded and Pitch had enough fear to regain his strength and the Guardians were still his target.

Jack was about to tell Cinder to take Sophie and run home, but then he saw Cinder's face. Her eyes were wide and her features were pale and sickly. Jack thought she was going to fall again and held out his staff to catch her when she knocked it away. Her lips were quivering and Jack could tell that the news meant something to her. He had told Cinder about Pitch and what he had done before, but Jack had no idea it had this effect on her. She looked terrified.

"Cinder," Jack walked up to her carefully, "take Sophie home, please. And tell Jamie─"

"I know what to do," Cinder snapped at his face, "don't try and boss me."

Jack saw Bunny's eyebrows rise in surprise and a smile began to curl. Jack would have to hit him with a snowball later. At the present, he nodded and Cinder slid past him, hitting him with her shoulder harder than he had anticipated. Jack glared at the back of her head in a flare of anger. _What's the matter with her? She was smiling just a second ago._ As he finished the thought, he noticed a blue-green light flicker from Cinder's left hand. She had taken off her gloves when confronting Bunny and now Jack saw a ring reflecting light around her small finger. Something about it was numbingly familiar, but Jack couldn't figure it out.

"What's with the red-hot, angry sheila?" Bunny pointed a digit toward the redhead.

"I don't know," Jack said finally, still staring after her, "I don't think she's usually like that."

"That's what they all say," Bunny was already taking out another globe and tossing it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack spun himself to face Bunny.

"North Pole," Bunny said, ignoring Jack's question. "Let's get going, mate."

Jack rolled his eyes and walked through the portal. Lights flew by them and the globe hall at the North Pole flew in front of him as he took a step out. The other Guardians were already there but they took no notice of Jack and Bunny as they joined. Jack was about to speak up when Tooth glanced at him worriedly. Jack noticed that she was wearing the pendant that Jack had asked Baby Tooth to retrieve for him. It made him smile briefly before he noticed her expression. She shook her head and pointed toward the globe, tears glistening in her eyes.

Jack narrowed his eyes and looked at the globe. At first, he didn't see what was wrong. Many lights were still shining brightly and twinkling with belief. Jack walked his way in between Sandy and North, slimming himself so that he didn't disturb their gazes. Upon closer inspection, Jack's eyes widened in shock.

The words _The Last Light_ were etched in black sand across the globe, and Burgess was circled. Jack's heart sank farther than he thought was possible.

* * *

**A/N: It's finally VACATION! Well, for me at least. I still have a ton of work to do, but that won't stop the uploading of this story. I've written up to chapter 24-25 and hopefully I'll have it finished before vacation ends. ^_^**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	13. The Last Light

**Chapter 13** \- _The Last Light_

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_That giant, furry kangaroo is the Easter Bunny?_

Cinder couldn't believe it even when she saw it. One second they were taking a rest from skating and the next a bright flash of light and a large, fluffy, talking animal started yelling at Jack. What was worse, the damn thing ignored her. She spoke her mind and skated up next to him, realizing at the last moment that he towered over her. Nevertheless, she held her ground and tried to get him to speak to her. For some reason, he just stared at her, flabbergasted. Cinder heard Jack laughing behind her several times, so she figured the Guardians hadn't known of her yet. But once he declared himself as the Easter Bunny, Cinder almost gasped.

Then she remembered the other night, when she was on the job. She had run right into the Easter Bunny before confronting Jack, and they had stared at each other for a full few seconds. Thankfully, it hadn't seemed like he recognized her. That cloak had been useful after all.

Even though letting him see her was one of her least favorite moments, falling through the thick ice earlier ranked closely. She had that sinking feeling in her stomach that skating was going to be a bad idea, but Jack had insisted and gotten Sophie excited. Cinder had really hoped she could have gotten out of it, but Sophie had already grabbed a pair of skates for her. She decided to swallow her fears and try it. What was the worst that could happen? She could melt the ice by accident, that's what could happen. Cinder watched Jack freeze over the pond an extra time, and as beautiful as the ice looked, she didn't want to go onto it. Something about it made her feel apprehensive, and it distracted her from concealing her heat. It ended up melting straight through Jack's handiwork.

Not only that, but Cinder had also fallen through, and Jack caught her. Thinking back on it, Cinder was angry that she didn't do anything for herself; she didn't want to owe the winter spirit anything. But at the time, Cinder was struck with a panic that made her chest collapse. She couldn't think clearly, and by the time she could, Jack was holding her hand and she was back on the ice. His cold hand engulfed her heated one, and she was immediately glad that she had worn the gloves.

When they had gotten onto the ice, it was like Cinder had done the motions a thousand times before. The blades beneath her glided over the smooth surface and she spun and twirled without thinking about it. She forgot about everything except the balance between her body and the skates. She forgot about Pitch, about the past countless years, and about everything that made her upset. In the middle of one spin, she caught Jack's eye. He was smiling at her, but she could not care less. The way that her loose clothing swung around her made her feel as free as if she were flying in the air. If she wasn't careful, though, she would probably end up flying. And explaining the fact that she was actually a spirit would be a little more than difficult.

Afterward, when Jack and Sophie trapped her, Cinder knew she couldn't stay much longer. But Sophie's face had the brightest smile and she was shouting Cinder's and Jack's names and the fun was intoxicating. It reminded her of Rebecca, the little blond girl that had been her friend all those years ago...

But instead of panic, instead of tears, instead of hatred, Cinder was in relative peace. At least until the kangaroo had shown up. Now she was rushing Sophie back home by her wrist. The little girl protested at first, saying that she wanted to stay with the Easter Bunny, but Cinder was insistent. Pitch had made his move and she and the kids were in danger. If Pitch had already started his second game against the Guardians, who knew when Cinder would have to step in and fight as well. For all that she had been through, and as much as she didn't want relationships with other humans, she couldn't bring herself to put these kids in danger. Besides, if they stayed alive, she got a paycheck. Cinder told herself that was her reason for protecting them, but something deeper lay within her heart that she did not yet know.

As they ran through the door, Cinder bumped into an equally confused Jamie. Cinder muttered an apology and sent Sophie into the living room.

"What's going on? The fun's over already?"

"Uh, yeah," Cinder shut the door behind her. As she did so, she instantly remembered that her sweater was still at the pond. And that had been the only thing keeping her looking normal. "Jack had to go back to the North Pole or whatever."

"The North Pole? Were the Northern Lights shining again?"

"What?" Cinder asked in disbelief. "It's still daylight out, and the Northern Lights don't show up this far south. No, some giant kangaroo that called himself the Easter Bunny showed up and whisked him away. Pretty rude, if you ask me."

"You saw the Easter Bunny, too?" Jamie stared at her, his eyes wide. "What kind of sitter are you?"

Cinder sighed and rolled her eyes. "I wish I knew, kid."

"So why'd the Easter Bunny come to get Jack? You look like you just saw a ghost, so it can't have been good news."

Cinder waved her hand, trying to shake off the concern. "Just some guy ruining their things, I guess. The kangaroo kept saying 'he's back,' so I figured it was the Guardians' business, not mine."

"Pitch is back?" Jamie whispered urgently.

Cinder was taken aback. "How do you know about Pitch?" Why did this kid know all of these people in his short life when Cinder had hardly heard of most of them in hundreds of years?

"I..." Jamie looked back into the living, making sure Sophie was busy, "let's talk somewhere else. Sophie was too young to really remember much and I don't wanna scare her."

"What are you talking about?" Cinder whispered after him as he made his way up the stairs.

"Come into my room, she'll be fine," Jamie waved Cinder forward. He took her up to his room and shut the door carefully. Turning back to her, Jamie let out a long sigh.

Cinder took his desk chair and sat, leaning forward. "Alright, what's going on? Why do you know about Pitch?"

"Has Jack ever mentioned anything about the Guardians?"

"Briefly," Cinder answered.

"What about Pitch's plan to steal the memories and weaken the Guardians?"

"Yes, yes," Cinder was getting the same story over again. She didn't want to hear it a thousand times to understand that nobody really liked Pitch. "So how do you play into this?"

"I'm the Last Light."

Cinder knit her brows and glared at Jamie curiously. What was the Last Light? Then again, Jack never explained how the Guardians had beaten Pitch. She waited for Jamie to continue.

Taking Cinder's silence as permission to elaborate, Jamie went on. "Pitch was beginning to win because many of the children stopped believing. I was close, but Jack came and convinced me that he and the other Guardians were real."

"Well you saw him, so─"

"But that's the thing," Jamie cut back in, "I couldn't. Jack was able to make me see him, though. If it weren't for him, Pitch would have won and the entire world would have been nothing but fear. Then I and some others fought back, causing Pitch to lose his powers and his believers..."

Cinder's eyes grew wide and she stood stock still. Right in front of her was the boy who destroyed Pitch's plans and sent him into imprisonment. Jamie took away Cinder's only anchor to sanity for four long years, but he acted like a hero. Rage boiled underneath her skin, but she swallowed it down with another thought. Pitch had planned on killing the Guardians. He had planned on giving every person in the world horrendous nightmares and panic like she had endured her entire life. While she had grown used to it, since she worked for him, Cinder could not imagine Pitch taking over everything. Sure, he was dark, but Cinder never thought of him from this view. Tears tried to flow over the rims of her eyes, but she blinked them away before Jamie noticed.

Cinder was completely lost. She realized she was allied to the bad guy in the situation, but her longstanding affiliation had blinded her. At the same time, Jamie, Jack, and the other Guardians made her feel incredibly lonely for those four years. Without Pitch, Cinder had no direction. She thought being lifted from the contract would have made her feel free and she could live on her immortal life doing whatever she pleased. But early on, Cinder found that all she ever did was follow Pitch's commands, and there was nothing in the human world that truly held her interest. Her powers hardly worked those four years, and she was left to her own devices. She tried whatever she could think of to make herself feel normal again. She had turned to alcohol and clubbing to receive some sort of thrill. It dimmed her senses, but it was never enough to make her feel like another human. The loud, heart-pumping music took her into its arms and tried to caress her, but Cinder knew that the distractions were only that: distractions. Life wasn't hers to hold dearly.

The Guardians had taken away something important to her. But Pitch had been about to take away the life and wonder from everyone's eyes. Cinder didn't know which side she was on anymore.

"Cinder?" Jamie waved his hands in her face and she snapped to attention, hardly realizing that she had spaced out.

"What?"

"I asked you if Jack said he planned on coming back."

Cinder shook her head. "No, he didn't say anything."

Jamie's worried face wasn't reassuring. "I hope he does, I want to know if I can help."

"Now wait a minute here," Cinder stood up, "I'm supposed to be taking care of you two while your mother is gone for the week. I can't just let you go and fight the Nightmare King and tell your mother, 'oh yes, everything's just fine!' can I?"

"I can handle it, I beat him when I was ten years old," Jamie pointed out, "and I still have Jack with me."

"You really trust him, huh?"

"Yup," Jamie nodded with confidence.

Then another thought crept into Cinder's mind. Jack Frost was the spirit that saved the Guardians. He told her he hadn't been a Guardian at the time, so it made sense that he was admitted into Guardianship (_Was that even how it worked?_ she thought for a moment) afterward. Jack, the boy who nearly exposed her on the job; the boy who froze her arm and made her feel cold for the first time; the boy who was trying to become her friend; was the one responsible for Pitch's defeat. Cinder should despise him, loathe him.

But she didn't. She couldn't. As much as she tried to conjure ill feelings, she knew that Jack had given her hope. He didn't know it, but Cinder was a spirit with lost memories. Thanks to Jack, Cinder began to speculate that she had once been human, too, and that her memories were with the Tooth Fairy. But now Pitch had opened the battlefront, and Cinder understood that her chances of getting her teeth were slimmer than ever.

"Jamie," Cinder began slowly, "I don't even know what happened at the North Pole, but the Guardians will handle it. If Jack deems it necessary to come back, then he will. Until then, we wait." It was not a popular option with Cinder, but she recognized that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She didn't feel like exposing herself just yet.

"But," Jamie stopped himself. "Alright, but if Jack comes back, I'm not hesitating to join him. Maybe he'd want you to join, too."

Cinder's face heated, but she tried not to let it show. "You would think he'd want to keep us safe, you know."

"I saw the way he looked at you," Jamie raised an eyebrow knowingly.

"Like the way he saw you look at that girl? What was her name...?" Cinder smirked.

"Jack told you about Pippa?!"

"Ah, that's who it was?" Cinder stood up, signaling the end of the conversation. "Let's go make dinner."

Jamie protested at first but ultimately followed Cinder downstairs. Knowing that Cinder wouldn't budge on the issue surrounding Pippa, he brought Sophie into the kitchen and all of them worked on making dinner. They ate together, with Sophie talking incessantly about how her art project was going to be the best in her class, especially because Cinder helped. But then her monologue turned from paper and glue to the pond and Cinder's wonderful skating and the Easter Bunny, as if Jamie and Cinder both didn't already know the events. Sophie's younger mind believed it unfair that Cinder would take her away before they could have any fun.

"You know you're only supposed to see him during Easter," Jamie spoke out, causing Sophie to pout.

"But Cinder saw him, too!" Sophie snapped indignantly. "Right, Cinder?"

However, the redhead was paying no attention. She was still deep in thought, and hardly heard Sophie. Muttering some response, the rest of dinner was painfully silent. The rest of the night went by peacefully. Their mother called soon after dinner, during which she said many I-love-you's and I-miss-you's and such verbal degrees of emotional attachments toward her children. Yes, everything was fine. Yes, they're going to school. Yes, do check in again. To Cinder, it was a very boring conversation. When Mrs. Bennett finally hung up, Jamie had retreated into his bedroom, nodding his agreement to Cinder about their deal. Cinder acknowledged him before Sophie pulled Cinder into the living room again. She insisted that they play a game before bedtime.

"Sophie, you can't stay up late all the time." Cinder was exhausted from the day's events. "If you have another bad dream again, I'm not letting you sleep in my room again."

"But Cinder," Sophie whined, "I want to have a tea party!"

_And I want a drink,_ Cinder rolled her eyes. "I'll let you do one round of tea for each member, but that's it. Then it's bedtime."

"Okay!" Sophie chirped as she ran around, setting up the stuffed animals and the plastic tea sets. Then she stopped and looked up at Cinder. "Actually, we're going to play animal doctors."

"What? Sophie..." Cinder plopped down on the couch in front of her. "Fine, ten minutes only."

Sophie ran about with more energy than Cinder thought she had. She had been to school, done art stuff, and skated for the better part of the day and she still wanted to ramble on and on. Cinder played along half-heartedly and hoped that Sophie would just pass out so Cinder could carry her up to bed and not worry about her for the rest of the night. She still had to check this house for a drink, and she somehow doubted the single mother left the place dry.

When the ten minutes were up, Sophie was still trying to diagnose a stuffed baby giraffe with a fake stethoscope held against the base of its neck. "Hmm, I think she has a breathing problem!"

"I think Sophie has a sleeping problem," Cinder remarked dully. "Come on, Sophie, it's time for bed."

Sophie whined in protest, but put her toys away obediently. Cinder was waiting at the doorway, and felt a hand suddenly grab hers. Sophie was downcast, gripping Cinder's palm with both of hers. Cinder began walking up the stairs when Sophie began to lag behind.

"You alright, Soph?" Cinder turned, expecting to see a sad, frowning Sophie. But instead, Sophie's head was lolled to the side and her eyes were shut tentatively. Suppressing a small laugh, Cinder shook her head and picked up Sophie, who woke up briefly.

"Cinder... don't be angry... at Jack or the Easter Bunny..." she murmured sleepily.

Cinder looked at her, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"They make us... happy," Sophie explained, "they protect us... and make us smile."

Cinder's heart held an unexpected weight. "They do, huh?" She walked into Sophie's room and set her down on her bed. For a six year old, she acted a lot younger. Cinder wished she could remember being like that.

"I like your ring," Sophie commented randomly, still holding Cinder's left hand.

"Do you?" Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you think it'll fit your finger, try and take it off mine." Cinder knew that Sophie was too tired and would be unable to take the ring off. Even if Sophie was wide awake, Cinder doubted the little blond girl could take off the old, magically charmed ring. Cinder herself could never get the damn thing off.

Sophie held Cinder's heated hand in both of hers and touched the ring gently. It sparkled in the weak moonlight that was streaming from the window across the hallway. Gripping the stone in her little fingers and the bottom of the ring with her other hand's fingers, she slowly slid the ring off. Cinder's jaw dropped and she gasped.

The ring had come right off without any hesitation. And now this little blond girl Cinder had known for hardly three days was putting it on each of her fingers, looking for a good fit. Sophie's index finger was large enough for the ring to not fall off all the way, and she put herself under her covers and muttered thanks as she drifted off to sleep again.

_That's it, I need a drink. Now._

Cinder closed the door carefully and ran downstairs. She searched the entire kitchen, only to find a nearly empty bottle of whiskey. It would hardly do the job, considering she had been used to far more copious amounts in recent years, but it was all she had. She didn't feel like walking down to the liquor store after what happened at the store earlier. Besides, once this bottle was polished off, she was sure she could buy the mother a brand new bottle of much better alcohol. Cinder hadn't spent any money at the store because the kind old woman had bought her what had been in her cart. Or she could buy the same stuff and drink it down to where the present bottle was, which seemed like the better option. Settling on that, she uncapped it and drank straight from the bottle.

Cinder took the bottle with her and walked out of the house, shoes left inside. It had gotten a little later, and the sliver of the waning moon gave little light. That was perfect for Cinder, however, because not being seen was always a treat. She hugged the bottle close and took off from the ground, flying into the air and floating momentarily. Looking over the town, she took another swig and contemplated her remaining options.

Before today, she swore she was going to find her teeth and then run away. But now that Pitch was out, Cinder worried that her jobs were far from done. Pitch was greedy, she knew, and would probably want her to help put an end to the Guardians. But since Cinder met this family, she was slowly becoming unsure of her intentions. Sophie's words buzzed around Cinder's foggy mind as she put the bottle to her lips again. The soft burn that ran down her throat added to the constant heat she felt her entire life.

Then there was the event with her ring. It was the one and only thing that remained constant in her extended lifetime, and now it was taken from her. Pitch had tried his hardest to get his hands in that ring but could never get it off. Why did he want the ring? Cinder could never figure it out. It was a harmless piece of metal, except for the fact that it was metaphysically glued to her finger. But for some reason, Pitch despised it. Now that it was gone, would Pitch be furious? Or did he just want the ring done away, and he'd be ecstatic to see her now?

Even if Cinder didn't understand the origin of the ring, she was quite attached to it─ literally─ and it felt like a part of her was gone. A warmer feeling began to glow in her stomach and she put the bottle to her lips once more, desiring loneliness.

As she set the bottle down, she saw that someone's house lights had turned on. Fearing that someone saw her when she didn't want to be seen, she flew down into the forest and rested herself on a tree branch. When her heartbeat settled, she tipped the bottle upside down and finished the whiskey. Finally feeling her buzz, she set her back against the tree and breathed heavily.

Cinder looked down and saw that she was still wearing the dirty skirt, which was now starting to tatter. _Seriously? I've worn this thing for maybe twelve hours! Hope the mother doesn't miss this thing,_ Cinder thought slowly, the alcohol beginning to dull her mind. Forgetting that the bottle was empty, she tried to take another drink. Realizing that it was empty again, she tossed the bottle to the ground and groaned, wishing she had more.

Slowly, Cinder began to sing. Normally, she wouldn't catch herself dead singing, but alcohol had a way of making her do unexpected things. Her voice broke at first, but after clearing her throat, she began again, skipping parts that she didn't remember:

_"So, the storm finally found me  
__And left me in the dark  
__In the cloud around me  
__I don't know where you are  
__If this whole world goes up in arms  
__All I can do is stand  
__And I won't fight for anyone  
__Until you move my hand  
__And w─"_

"What are you doing up here?" a voice rattled her blurred brain and stopped her short of finishing the verse.

Cinder giggled in response, realizing she had actually drunk more alcohol than she had anticipated. "I could ask you the same thing, Frost."

Jack was balancing on the thinning branch in front of her. It hardly dipped downward despite the fact that Jack should have weighed whatever a normal boy his size would have, but Cinder didn't take much notice. He looked at her worriedly, and Cinder silently thanked her drunk self for tossing the bottle before he got there.

"I'm back because I have to watch over the house. Something you should be doing," Jack scolded her.

"Relax, they're asleep," Cinder reassured sloppily to Jack. "Besides, I can take a break every once in awhile. Today was weird, you know?"

"Yeah, I gathered that. You stink, by the way," Jack pointed out to her.

Cinder made a show of sniffing her armpits and laughed. "Oh well, nothing that won't wash out tomorrow!"

"Let's get you back to the house, I'll tell you about what's happening when we get back," Jack leaned toward her and offered her his arm in the old fashioned way.

Cinder slapped it away with a lazy hand. "Who said I wanted to go back just yet? Lemme sit here a little while longer."

"You're not wearing pants, a jacket, or even shoes, Cinder," Jack reasoned, "you're going to freeze if you stay out here much longer."

"Do I look like I'm cold to you?" Cinder threw her arms wide. "Jeez, thought you'd have gotten the message by now. I don't get cold! I'm as warm as a furnace and always have been. I don't have any need for warm clothing," Cinder's sentences were slurring together.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "Are you drunk?"

"Bingo," Cinder emphasized and snapped her fingers, pointing at him. "And it feels soooooo good. I'd offer you some but I already polished off the bottle." She didn't know when to stop talking; everything sounded acceptable to her now.

Jack shook his head in complete disbelief. "Are you serious? How did you even get up here like that?"

"I flew," Cinder flapped her arms like a bird and laughed because it was true.

"That's not funny, Cinder," Jack rolled his eyes.

"No, no, wait, really," Cinder stuttered, "I can fly, and it's _awesome_."

"Cinder, why in the world were you drinking?"

"I told you, today was weird," Cinder answered. "First, I went shopping and had a panic attack. Then, I meet this giant talking kangaroo that thinks he's a rabbit. And don't get me started about─"

"You know what? Never mind. Let's just focus on getting you home."

"I don't wanna!" Cinder whined like a little kid, thinking it was funny.

"Okay, okay," Jack placated. "Look, I'll carry you, but I know what happens when our skin touches. So don't squirm, okay? I'll keep my sleeves over my hands so just don't touch─"

Before Jack could finish his sentence, Cinder jumped into Jack's arms. Thankfully, he already had his sleeves down over his hands, but he stumbled backwards in surprise, almost losing his balance. In the sudden jump, Jack's staff had fallen out of the tree. Jack floated down and kicked the staff onto his shoulder. Cinder didn't struggle out of Jack's grasp, but she was a little uncomfortable and tried to wriggle her own body into a comfortable position.

"I said to stay still, Cinder," Jack grumbled as he held his face away from her flailing arms.

"You're not very comfortable, you know that?" Cinder smirked as she playfully tumbled around in his arms. It made her world extra dizzy and extra fun.

"Well you'll be in your bed soon if you just stop moving for two seconds."

"Hey," she pointed at his nose, "you may be the spirit of winter, but I don't think you're getting to the house in two seconds."

Jack huffed and closed his eyes, not wanting to answer the drunken girl.

"Jamie said you liked me," Cinder wasn't sure why she was mentioning this, but the alcohol kept nagging at her, "like, the way you look at me or something like that." She may have mumbled something else, but she wasn't sure.

Jack didn't answer her. Instead, he took off for the air and the breeze woke Cinder slightly. Breathing in deeply, Cinder looked up at Jack's face and nearly gasped. His lips were sown in a tight line and determination was set in his features. Cinder's muddled mind wondered what was making him act so serious. She vaguely remembered that Pitch was free again and that that might have been what was upsetting Jack. Inhibited by alcohol, she pitied him and snuggled into his chest, hoping it would make him feel better. She felt Jack inhale quickly and go rigid and she wondered if everything was okay.

* * *

The next morning, Cinder awoke in her bedroom with a blanket that appeared to have been thrown over her hastily. Standing up straight, she clutched her head and immediately wished that she hadn't woken up yet. A headache instantly shot through her forehead and she grimaced.

Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 11:00am. The kids were late for school. Coughing violently, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, still in her clothes from the day before. Groaning, she scrambled out of her clothing and stumbled over to her bag. Picking up a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of stretch shorts, she walked toward the bathroom naked. The kids could have the day off for all she cared.

After a long, hot shower, Cinder threw on her clothes and tied up her hair messily. Staring at her complexion in the mirror, she noticed that dark bags under her eyes had appeared. Sighing, she walked out of the bathroom and went to Jamie's room. She knocked softly, but there was no answer.

"Jamie?" Cinder asked in a hoarse voice. "You don't have to go to school today. I'm calling my own snow day."

No answer. Cinder opened the door carefully and peeked inside. She was surprised to find that Jamie wasn't there. She walked over to Sophie's room and found the same thing. The kids were gone. Cinder ran downstairs and looked around, not finding a trace of them. Her heartbeat rose and she was starting to panic when she saw a slip of paper on the counter. Reading over it carefully, she sighed and sat down, holding her heavy, hung-over head.

_Cinder -  
__I took the kids to school again. You owe me. I'll talk to you when I get back.  
__\- Jack_

Cinder walked over to the fridge and looked for something to eat. Settling on making eggs, she went to get out a pan only to realize that it was dirty. Jack must have tried to make them breakfast. Cinder laughed at the thought of Jack accidentally freezing the kids' fried eggs and walked into the living room with a glass of water. Sitting down carefully, she sipped her water and waited for the hangover to fade.

Then she remembered last night. The things she told Jack were far out of line, she realized, and she berated herself for her foolishness. Thankfully, Jack didn't take her drunken outbursts seriously, but now Cinder would have to explain herself.

But more importantly, what had Pitch done to agitate the Guardians? Why had Jack come back?

Cinder finished her water and decided that a nap was the best idea if she was ever going to be able to think straight.

* * *

**A/N: The song used is "Cactus in the Valley" by Lights. The version I was thinking of in particular was the acoustic guitar version. She's just got the most lovely voice! You should definitely check it out!**

**As always, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	14. Protector or Babysitter?

**A/N: I just wanna say thanks to all of the reviewers and faves/follows so far! It makes me feel all bubbly when I see the numbers go up. :P I can't wait to see what you guys think of the later chapters; I'm having a lot of fun writing them!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 14** \- _Protector or Babysitter?_

* * *

Jack had just walked into the North Pole's globe room with Bunny to find that Pitch had given the Guardians a message. On the globe etched in black sand was a warning, and it left little guess room as for whom it was meant. _The Last Light_ glittered in black, blue, and purple specks that shifted constantly under the waning sunlight, and the town of Burgess was circled hastily.

"We have to go tell Jamie!" Jack was already hopping above the globe and heading to the window.

"Jack, no!" North's sudden voice boomed. "We must think first. If we jump in, we fall in Pitch's trap."

"You think this is a trap?" Bunny piped up.

Sandy nodded his head furiously.

"I don't understand. Why hasn't the Man in the Moon warned us?" fussed Tooth.

"Hey, he didn't speak to me for three hundred years! I'm not surprised," Jack sat perched on his staff. Baby Tooth flew over to him and hid in his hood, chirping nervously. Jack whispered to her soothingly and smoothed her feathers.

"Maybe because you never took anythin' seriously," Bunny chided.

Jack flipped his staff off his shoulder and pointed it at Bunny. "Then why'd you bring me back here?"

"I made him, Jack," North stepped in front of him and held the tip of Jack's staff in one giant hand. Jack's anger subsided, albeit slowly.

"Why didn't you just use the Lights?" Jack asked.

"Did not want Pitch to think we think it important," North clarified.

It made sense. The Northern Lights that North used could be seen almost anywhere. Pitch would surely be watching for them, and not using them did give the Guardians an advantage of sorts.

"But Pitch was able to get into the North Pole, mate," Bunny pointed out. "What if he's still in here?"

"I'll go," Jack volunteered immediately and started flying out of the room when Sandy stopped him, shaking his head. Gentle bells rang when he did this, and it calmed Jack down a little.

"Jack," North began, "We need you to go back to Burgess. Stay with Jamie."

Jack was confused. Wouldn't Pitch being inside the North Pole be a little more serious? He turned around to spite them only to see Sandy materializing images above his head. A barber pole, Pitch's face, a "G," and a semi-clear sphere, among others whizzed by too fast for Jack to read, and he looked at Sandy quizzically.

"I have force field 'round entire Pole," North threw his arms wide, "Pitch could not have stayed long if he was here."

"But then how did he get in?" Tooth asked.

Jack furrowed in concentration for a moment. "What about where the black sand is on the globe? Could it be the fire guy? Maybe Pitch had him burn places in order to make writing on the globe?"

North shook his head gravely. "I saw no fire in globe portals."

"Fear must have escalated in those areas somehow," Bunny suggested.

"Perhaps, Bunny," North stroked his beard in thought. Out from behind him, he withdrew a cutlass and tapped it against his skull as he paced the room. Everyone moved out of the way when he did this for fear of getting cut accidentally. North was fairly unpredictable sometimes.

Sandy rang an elf's head to get the Guardians' attentions; it was still one of the more effective ways of communication for Sandy. When they all turned to him, he pointed to the door and a series of images told them he was going to check the place out just in case. They nodded and Sandy took off, trailing dream sand as he left.

"Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about the other day. But I'm going to head back to Burgess and warn Jamie," Jack said. Baby Tooth was about to fly back to Tooth when she sent her back.

"You stay with Jack, sweetie," Tooth ordered the mini fairy gently, "I can take care of your shifts."

Baby Tooth chirped and squeaked excitedly and hugged Tooth. The little purple pendant around Tooth's neck shimmered, catching the light from the windows. Tooth mouthed a word of thanks in Jack's direction and flashed a small smile. Baby Tooth flew back to Jack and fluttered into the side of his neck, which tickled Jack a little. She then traveled back into his hood's folds and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Jack," North cut in before he could leave, "you cannot stay all time, Pitch may find out you are watching him. We take shifts. Bunny," he turned to the oversized rabbit, "you take next one."

"When's that gonna be?" Bunny exasperated, "I have to prepare for Easter, mate."

"Bah, Easter not so important now," North flicked his hand in Bunny's direction. Bunny sniveled but remained silent. "What is important is we pretend not to get excited. Everybody, take few globe portals. Less chance we are seen by Pitch, the better."

North handed a few globe portals to Jack first. They shrunk as he touched them in order to fit into his sweatshirt's pocket. Then North leaned close and whispered directions into Jack's ear. His eyes widened, then he nodded and said his goodbyes to the other Guardians. With his face set in determination, Jack flew out of the window. He wasn't to use a globe portal for this trip. He needed to take his time, because Pitch was probably watching the place as they spoke. If Jack appeared suddenly, it would raise suspicions.

* * *

Upon reaching Burgess an hour or two later, Jack flew down to the street on the opposite side of town from Jamie's. He walked cautiously through the streets, although he felt this mode of transportation to be insanely slow. Jack was glad he could fly at will, otherwise being an immortal spirit wasn't entirely beneficial. Thankfully, the Guardians who couldn't fly couldn't hear his thoughts.

The town was mostly asleep, except for lights from adults' rooms, which Jack wasn't worried about. A few cars drove down lonely roads and some older people were talking in whispers at corners. Jack ignored them like usual. If they couldn't see him, he didn't bother with them unless they were in danger. Walking underneath a streetlight, he looked behind him and saw that he cast no shadow. It meant no kids were in sight to see him, so he held no physical attribute in the present environment. He took a deep breath and carried on.

Once he finally reached Jamie's, he flew up to the roof and checked all of the windows. Jamie and Sophie were both fast asleep. Careful not to leave frost on the windows or rooftop, he tiptoed lightly across the building, laying low. He checked Cinder's window last, hoping that she would be awake and they could talk. She left in an upsetting mood earlier in the afternoon, and Jack wanted to cheer her up. But upon looking into her window, his eyes grew wide in disbelief. Cinder wasn't in her room. Jack waited a few minutes to see if she was in the bathroom, but when she hadn't come back up, Jack began to panic. It was the second time she had left the kids alone, and Jack wanted to know what was so important that she had to slip out of the house at night.

What he hadn't expected to be the reason was that she had been drinking. Jack had left their house and went immediately to the pond, hoping she might have gone somewhere close. Jack thought she may have been on the ice, given the way she had been skating earlier that day. It was graceful, and Jack smiled at the memory.

It was then that he had heard a soft, breathy voice in the distance. It was low at first, but it slowly picked up volume as Jack listened. Curious, Jack walked toward the voice. When he got closer, he realized that the sound was coming from above him. Looking into the trees, he was shocked to find Cinder sitting lazily against a tree with her leg hanging over the branch, singing with her eyes closed. Her voice wasn't anything wonderful, in fact it had very little talent, but it had an emotion in it that made Jack take a step back. He listened for a little while until he figured he'd wasted enough time. Jumping onto the branch hoping to scare her, Cinder reacted very differently.

She said weird things, like flying and always feeling warm. Jack finally pieced it together and realized she was drunk and didn't take her words as seriously. _Is this what she did that other night as well? She's a horrible sitter._ Jack shook his head, but decided to carry her home anyway. Whether or not she'd remember any of it later, Jack could only guess. He hadn't necessarily dealt with drunken people before, as far as he knew, and Cinder probably wasn't a good example. Despite his instructions, she squirmed in his grasp and he was constantly scared that he would drop her. He was tempted to scare her sober by pretending to drop her and then picking her back up again, but he didn't want to risk making her scream and being caught. He wasn't supposed to by flying while he was in Burgess, but moving Cinder otherwise proved impossible.

But then she stilled. Jack looked down at her worriedly, thinking she had finally grown cold in shock. But her drooping eyes stared back at him as best they could. She said something incoherent and Jack thought he heard Jamie's name. Then, Cinder leaned into him and wrapped her arm around the back of his neck and her other arm lay gently on his chest, her head resting heavily on his shoulder.

"I think I like you, too," Cinder murmured, "even if you're a winter spirit and I'm a..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Jack didn't think he needed to hear anymore. He stiffened at her contact and stared straight ahead, determined to not think about it. Cinder was drunk, he repeated to himself. She shouldn't have been and she shouldn't have even left the house. Granted, she didn't know about the current situation with Pitch, but Jack was still angry with her. He'd have to speak with her once she sobered up.

Gliding down to the road, he walked across slowly, Cinder's weight burdening him. Jack set her legs down so that he could open the front door, and both of Cinder's arms wrapped around his shoulders in a drunken response. She muttered something into his sweatshirt's hood and rubbed her head. That was when Baby Tooth popped out and chirped loudly, because Cinder was messing up her little nest she had made. She muttered something rudely to Jack and wagged her finger at him.

"Sorry, Baby Tooth," Jack apologized, "I don't know what's gotten into her. Just deal with it until we get her to bed, alright?"

Baby Tooth huffed and disappeared inside his hood once again. Jack opened the door and picked up Cinder again. It was difficult because of the way that she clung to him, but he managed to get her into her bedroom. He tried to set Cinder on the bed, but her arms wouldn't let go. In fact, her hands were slipping and her bare skin was about to touch his and in panic, Jack ducked his head and let Cinder's arms slip over his hair. Sighing in relief that the maneuver had worked, he took the blanket folded at the end of the bed and was about to toss it over her. Then he looked at her hand and saw that the ring he thought she had been wearing was in fact, not there. Jack was confused but he shook off the feeling and laid the blanket over the drunken girl. It was then he realized that she would not be able to get up in time to get the kids to school and still function.

He left the house and perched himself against the side of Jamie's window. In the morning he woke them up, saying that Cinder was sick and that he would take them to school. Jamie looked at him skeptically, not quite believing him. He tried to question Jack about how he knew and if Jack had visited her last night, but Jack remained silent. Even when Jamie questioned about Pitch, Jack only said that he would tell Jamie later. Sophie was constantly trying to get into Cinder's room, but Jack caught her with his staff every time and brought her back downstairs. They could see her after school, he said. He hated not telling them what was important, but it was one of North's instructions. The kids weren't allowed to know what was going on unless it became apparent that something bad was happening soon. Jack didn't like leaving Jamie out of this since it was he who was at risk, but he knew what North meant. Needless worrying and fear would tip Pitch off, and the Guardians couldn't let that happen.

They had finally walked out of the house and were on the way to the school, with Jamie not talking to Jack and Sophie incessantly asking about Cinder. When they rounded the last corner before the school, Jack was about to leave when a boomerang swung around him causing him to halt in his tracks.

"Easter Bunny!" Sophie cried before Jamie covered her mouth.

"Hey, Bunny," Jamie said with a hint of surprise in his voice, "are you here to take Jack back to the North Pole again?"

"Not quite, mates," Bunny smiled at them reassuringly, "just head on to school, awlright?"

The kids nodded and walked onward hesitantly. When they were inside the school and out of earshot, Bunny hopped over to Jack and took him aside to where no believer could see or hear them.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked angrily. "Do you want them to figure out what we're doing?"

"Calm down, frosty," Bunny retorted, "I'm just here to tell you it's my turn to watch them now."

"I've hardly been here a day!"

"North told me to go," Bunny explained, "and I don't normally question the big guy. He makes sense a lot of the time."

Jack nodded, realizing what Bunny was saying was true. Still, he needed to speak with Cinder. He'd left her a note promising that he would be back to speak with her, and he didn't want to be a liar.

"I've still got to go speak with Cinder," Jack admitted.

"That angry sheila the other night?" Bunny raised his eyebrows. "I wouldn't mind havin' a few words with her, myself."

"I know, she was pretty rude, but..." Jack's voice trailed off. "But she didn't necessarily mean it. She sometimes forgets she shouldn't be able to see us."

"Doesn't she believe?"

"No, I mean, not really," Jack hesitated. "She didn't believe in me at first but she could still see me."

"Well does she know about the Guardians? About Pitch?"

Jack tightened his lips in a straight line for an answer.

"Are you serious, mate?" Bunny palmed his face in disbelief. "She's involved now, you know that? You've involved an innocent human girl, and there's no doubt Pitch is going to pick up on that."

"He's only after Jamie," Jack insisted, "and Cinder's his and Sophie's sitter for the week. She was bound to figure it out, anyway."

"Well, that makes it so much better!" Bunny said with sarcasm. "Now we've got a furless Tasmanian Devil on our side, there's no way we can lose!"

"What are you talking about?"

"She was wearing a skirt and no jacket in ten-degree-weather, mate," Bunny clarified. "I was feeling cold just lookin' at her."

"Cinder said she doesn't get cold so─ her sweater!" Jack interrupted himself.

"The sheila had one of 'em?" Bunny asked skeptically.

"Yeah, but I didn't see it... she must have left it at the pond," Jack reasoned to himself. "Sorry cottontail, I've gotta go. You can continue hopping around and coloring eggs or whatever, I've got this."

"Jack! Remember the last time you told us that?" Bunny asked after him, referring to Jack bringing Sophie home and abandoning the Guardians to Pitch's wrath, destroying Easter.

Jack stopped and let out a heavy sigh. "This isn't like that time. You know I'll come back."

"I bloody hope so, mate," Bunny tipped his head in farewell and bounced off. "Send some snow while you're at it!"

Jack stood there for a minute before taking off. Did the Guardians not trust him? Was North sending Bunny to keep an eye on Jack? Shaking his head, Jack ran to the edge of town and flew off. Bunny was right about one thing: he had to send snow places or Pitch would get suspicious.

He flew as far as he could, far, far away from Burgess. For a few hours, Jack pretended to be cheerful as he blew snowstorms about in the Rockies and gave snow days to multiple schools in the far north. He debated crossing the ocean and paying Europe a visit, but he wanted to get back to Burgess as soon as he could. He had to discard whatever Cinder told him the other night and tell her about the danger she was potentially facing. Once he figured it looked like he had done his job, he called to the wind and speedily made his way to Burgess. Stopping in the forest outside the town, he walked the rest of the way to the pond.

Sure enough, a dark gray fabric was waving in the wind on a rock on the side of the pond nearest the road. Walking across the pond with ease, he froze it with every footstep and picked up the sweater carefully. Jack's eyes widened as he realized how thin it was, and thought not for the first time that maybe what Cinder had said was true.

Jack walked up to the house and went inside as silently as he could. He was about to walk up the stairs when he caught a glimpse of something orange moving around in the living room. Peering through the doorway, he saw that Cinder was sleeping fitfully on the couch, an empty glass standing on the nearby coffee table. Jack hoped water had been in that glass. He walked into the room with the intention of waking her up, but thought better of it and sat in a chair across the room, clutching her sweater in his hands. He set his staff leaning against the chair and waited in silence.

_Cinder was just drunk, she didn't mean any of it, _Jack thought to himself over and over, trying to justify Cinder's words and actions.

He had just relaxed when Cinder sat up screaming. Her eyes were a wild green, but they were beginning to shift. She clutched her head in one hand and her chest in another and began to hyperventilate.

"Cinder! Cinder, you're okay. Everything's fine," Jack tried to calm the horrified girl. But when she turned and saw him, she yelped again and scrambled backward, climbing higher on the couch. Cinder clutched her scar and her chest heaved. She was staring at him with little recognition, and Jack swore he saw her eyes change color. When he tried to hold out his hand to her, she swatted at him instinctually, their fingertips touching briefly. That was enough to send shock through both of them as Jack's hand burned and Cinder's froze. The girl freaked out and tried to back up farther, only to trip on a blanket that was lying on top of the couch and fall over backwards behind the couch. Her head hit the floor first with a sickening thud, and Jack winced, holding his hand tenderly.

"Cinder?" The sudden quiet scared Jack. "Cinder, don't panic. I'm here, okay? You don't need to worry. It was just a bad dream. Let me help you up," Jack peered over the side of the couch. Cinder was lying on her back, and she was still panicking, her chest heaving up and down in ragged breaths. She whipped her head around to glare at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"She grabbed the blanket she tripped over and tossed it in his direction, landing over his head so he couldn't see. "Get out!"

"Really, Cinder?" Jack asked incredulously, tearing the blanket away from his face. "I carried your drunken body into bed and ran back for your sweater today, and this is the thanks I get?"

Then Cinder saw his burned hand and gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know that happened!"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "It happened to your hand, too. Don't you remember what just happened?"

"Panic attacks don't really work like that, Jack," Cinder explained as she stood up and climbed back over the couch. "Come on, I'll get you an ice pack."

Jack followed her into the kitchen and hoped that Cinder's panic attack hadn't alerted Pitch. He sat in the same stool as he had the last time this happened and waited patiently. "You should probably take care of yours, first," Jack suggested.

"How chivalrous," Cinder muttered sarcastically. "Here," she tossed the ice pack at Jack and he caught it. "Next time, don't try and calm me down from a panic attack. It's better to just let them blow over." She bent down to open a lower cabinet and then frowned. "Oh yeah," she said in realization.

"You looking for the alcohol you downed last night?" Jack asked.

That's when Cinder straightened up and faced him. Jack swore he saw her eyes tearing up, but she blinked before he could be sure.

"I'm sorry about whatever happened last night," Cinder apologized, "I didn't think I drank that much."

"You don't remember anything?"

"I remember a little, nothing much though. Alcohol sure does do some funny things, huh?" Cinder tried to laugh it off, but Jack was furious at her.

"What were you thinking? You've left the kids home alone twice now!"

"You came to the house that night?" Cinder snapped at him. Jack realized then that she couldn't have known. Good going, Jack. A pat on the back for you.

"Yeah, while you were out drinking your fill, no doubt," Jack answered, his voice thick with venom.

Cinder's eyes narrowed and her mouth became a thin line. "You don't know anything, Jack."

"Alright, alright," Jack backed off. Her mood swings were completely unpredictable, he realized. "Just, can you take care of your hand? It must hurt," Jack pointed to her frozen hand.

Cinder looked down and swayed unsteadily. "I'll do that, but didn't you want to talk?"

"It can wait until you've taken care of yourself," Jack assured her. "Besides, your hair is a wreck."

Cinder turned and peered at her reflection on the stainless steel fridge. Her hair was knotted in a loose bun that swung freely, with wisps and flyaway hairs floating around randomly. Jack heard Cinder groan and walk upstairs. Jack laughed.

"I heard that!" Cinder's muffled voice came from the bathroom and Jack heard the bathtub water flowing.

Jack smiled and waited, lifting the ice pack temporarily. He was amazed that it worked better than his own ice, which hurt his hand whenever he touched the burned sections. Suddenly, Jack thought back to what Cinder had said the other night: she doesn't get cold. And whenever they touch, Jack got burned.

_Is she really human?_ Jack eyes widened. Baby Tooth reappeared and muttered similar thoughts.

"Alright," Cinder appeared in front of him abruptly, "you want to explain to me why a giant kangaroo kidnapped you last night saying that Pitch was back?" She had somehow managed to make her frizzy red wreck turn into smooth waves that caressed her face and shoulders. "And who is that?"

Baby Tooth flew around Cinder in circles and Jack saw the ghost of a smile spread across her face.

"That's one of Tooth's fairies."

"She has little minions? Cool," Cinder pet Baby Tooth's feathers and she snuggled right into Cinder's hands. It must be pretty warm...

"So how much do you know?" Jack asked before his thought continued.

Cinder faltered almost imperceptibly. "Well, there's what you've told me before and then Jamie told me the full story. His version, at least."

"Well, that makes my job easier, I guess," Jack took a deep breath before continuing. "Pitch escaped our imprisonment last night. He left us a note at the North Pole."

"Why the North Pole? Were you meeting at Santa's Workshop?" Cinder asked jokingly.

"Actually, yes," Jack defended the statement, "North's place is plenty large enough and it's where the Guardians meet every year. Or more often if something comes up," he added after a pause.

"Or someone," Cinder led in.

"Right. Well, Pitch somehow found his way in, and he left a message on the globe."

"The globe?" Cinder raised a dubious eyebrow.

"It's a giant replica of the Earth with a bunch of tiny lights on it. The lights represent the children who believe in us," Jack explained.

"So four years ago, Pitch meant to make those lights disappear?"

Jack nodded. "Anyway, he wrote 'The Last Light' on the globe and circled this town last night."

"With what?"

"Black sand," Jack briefly described the frightening substance. "And it also appeared when some fire guy burned down villages a few days ago. He seems to be working for Pitch, and I don't want either of them to find Jamie. Not on my watch."

Cinder's face went gravely pale, and Jack could see that she knew something. Before he could investigate, she ran over to the phone and began dialing a number.

"What are you doing?" Jack stood up and walked next to her. A strange heat was coming off of her body, and Jack realized her warmth the other night may not have been the alcohol.

"I'm calling the school, we have to get Jamie away from here," her voice was urgent and her fingers were anxiously tapping the side of the phone. Jack took it from her and hung it up. Before Cinder could protest, Jack explained.

"We can't let Pitch know that we've begun to join together again," Jack told her. "If we let Jamie know, fear will crawl all over this house and Pitch will show up in a heartbeat. I'm surprised he didn't knock down the door after that panic attack you had!"

"I can't help those!" Cinder crossed her arms, defensively hurt.

Jack took a step back and apologized. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Cinder."

Cinder's look softened and she let her arms fall to her sides. "I shouldn't have snapped..."

"It's fine," was all Jack could offer.

Cinder bit her lip and looked away. "So what do we do?" she asked in order to change the subject, which Jack wasn't sure if he was glad for or not.

"As much as I hate it, we have to lay low until Pitch makes his next move. He usually reveals his plans in parts at a time, so we're betting he'll do something if he thinks we aren't paying attention."

Cinder shook her head. "He can't be that oblivious. If he was strong enough to break out of prison and into the North Pole, he must know what you guys are up to."

Jack shrugged because he didn't have an answer. If he had to watch over the house, just sitting here and talking wasn't exactly the most fun he was having. He stood up and walked back into the living room, grabbing his staff. When he came back, he tossed the ice pack on the counter and began walking to the door. He was expecting Cinder to speak up and stop him, or ask him where he was going, but she remained silent. Jack turned to look at her and saw sadness wash over her features.

"Jack, if anything happens to these kids," Cinder looked at him with pleading eyes, "I can't forgive myself."

"Hey, hey," Jack walked back over to her, "it's okay. Nothing's going to happen to them, alright?" An idea popped into his head. "Why don't we go outside? Let's play a game. Go get your gloves," he gestured upstairs, "and warmer clothes."

Cinder simply nodded and walked up the stairs. Something was off about her, again, but Jack decided to leave it alone.

When she came back down, Jack was relieved to see that she was actually wearing pants for once, but she was still only wearing a thin t-shirt. He frowned then walked into the living room and grabbed her sweater. When he got back to the kitchen, she was waiting for him with her gloves on. He handed her the sweatshirt and she took it carefully with a muttered thank-you.

"Now come on," Jack took her gloved hand once she buttoned the sweater, "I've gotta teach you how to have a snowball fight."

"What happened to laying low?" Cinder asked as he dragged her across the road and down to the pond.

"Don't worry," Jack answered, looking back at her, "we'll play in the woods." But for some reason, Cinder's face told him she still didn't believe him.

When they had gotten far enough into the woods, Jack taught her how to make a snowball, instantly forming one in his palm as an example of what the end result should look like. Cinder bent down and tried to pick up some snow, but gasped as the pile she picked up melted. Jack studied her closely, then figured it was because the temperature had warmed up outside. He aimed his staff upward and made it snow beneath the tops of the trees, so that it couldn't be seen anywhere else. He caught Cinder looking up toward the bare branches in amazement and he giggled. When she noticed him, she took her melted snow and tossed it in his face. The water slid down his hair and face and had gotten into his mouth. Coughing, he tossed his already made snowball and got her square in the face. He had been expecting blue sparkles to shimmer in front of her eyes, but nothing happened for a moment.

Cinder smirked and walked behind a tree. Confused, Jack walked around to the side of the tree, expecting her to be there. She wasn't. Jack looked around in disbelief. "Cinder!"

Suddenly, a bunch of snow fell on top of him, making him stumble out of the way. He heard Cinder's laughter above him. Jack smiled and laughed back.

"Nice one, I'll admit," Jack brushed the snow off. "But you left yourself open!" He formed another snowball and lobbed it up at her.

Cinder's surprised shriek made her lose balance. Before she fell to the ground, however, Jack shot out and grabbed her, not worried about skin contact because for once none of her limbs were exposed. They stared at each other momentarily. An awkward tension rose between them: one where both of their throats were thick and fell into their stomachs, as if both had something to say. But each waited for the other to say something, their eyes yearning to find each other's secrets and finding only the same impatience. Neither of them dared to make a noise for a few moments. The air was still but their hearts raced.

Baby Tooth popped out of Jack's hood and chirped hastily at Cinder. She shrieked again before recovering her composure.

"Jerk," Cinder jumped out of his arms before he registered what had just taken place.

They went on like nothing had happened. Jack taught Cinder how to make a better snowball, and this time she didn't melt it instantly. Jack had his doubts, but the fun kept them at bay for a few hours. It was after those few hours that Cinder shot up from her hiding place.

"Jack! What time is it?"

Jack looked at the sky and realized why she was asking. It seemed she understood what he was thinking. But before he could say anything, she was already moving.

"I'll go get the kids, you go freeze stuff," Cinder instructed as she began jogging out of the woods.

"Are you sure?" Jack called after her.

"Just stay out of sight like you're supposed to, Frost!" she called back. "And I won that fight!"

Jack smiled and shook his head. She had been smiling again. And after what she told him last night, he didn't have a doubt that they were becoming friends.

* * *

"Jack! Jack! Oh God, Jack! Where are you? Jack!" Cinder's frantic voice rang through Jack's mind. He had taken a nap in a tree in the woods.

"What?" Jack gasped as he fell out of his perch. "What is it, Cinder?"

"Oh, Jack!" Cinder crashed into his chest and took a minute before she backed away. Jack had been about to hug her in order to calm her down, but he could see that she was in hysterics. And not wearing shoes.

"What's wrong, Cinder?"

"It's Jamie," Cinder was panting heavily, "he's gone."

* * *

**A/N: Dun, dun, DUNNN! Cliffhangers are fun, ja? Sorry not sorry. :)**


	15. The Double Agent

**Chapter 15** \- _The Double Agent_

* * *

The school bell rang and children filed out of the building haphazardly. It went from complete, comfortable silence to all-out innocent chaos. Peering at the doors carefully, Cinder searched for the tall teenage boy and his little blond sister. She waved the kids down once she saw them coming out of the school. Sophie ran straight for her, ensnaring Cinder in a long hug. Jamie trailed just behind and waited.

"Cinder!" Sophie snuggled her head at the touch of the redhead's sweater. "I'm so glad you're not sick anymore!"

_Is that what Jack told them?_ Cinder smirked. "Yup, I'm all better. I just needed more sleep, it turns out."

"Where's Jack?" Jamie asked. "Did he say anything to you?"

So Jack really hadn't told these kids what was going on. "Nope, haven't seen him. He left me a note, but he's been gone since he took Sophie and me skating."

"Oh! Cinder?" Sophie tugged at her hand. A question begged on her lips.

"Yes, Soph?" Cinder looked down softly. Mentally she set herself back and questioned when she began to care about these children enough to call them by nicknames.

"Sarah wanted me to sleep over at her house tonight. She's right over there," Sophie pointed to a brunette girl coming their way.

"Is that so?" Cinder followed Sophie's finger. She wasn't sure if this was out of the question, since Mrs. Bennett had given instructions when she wasn't fully paying attention. Nevertheless, it meant one less kid in the house, right? Cinder could finally and truly relax after the events of the past few days. "Okay, Sophie. Do you know the house number in case you need me or Jamie?"

"Uh, I volunteered you to walk us to her house," Sophie admitted sheepishly. "We can show you the way, though. It's not too far!"

"Oh," Cinder realized what she had been pulled into. "Okay. Are you coming, Jamie?"

"Do I really have to walk with you guys? I have homework." Jamie was already turned toward the route home.

"Not that you do any of it," Cinder remarked as he sneered in response, "but sure. If you go out with friends, leave a note, okay?"

"Yes, _Mom_," Jamie answered with a joking smile and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Be safe─!" Cinder called as an afterthought. She knew she was leaving Jamie alone, but it was only a small amount of time, right? He had been in school all day and Pitch never once showed up.

"─_Said Mother_!" Jamie hollered over his shoulder, which made Cinder laugh. She was a terrible mother, if that was the case. Either way, Sophie and Sarah caught up with each other and walked ahead of Cinder the entire trip, chatting incessantly about whatever six-year-olds chat about.

Cinder left Sophie and Sarah at the doorstep and began walking past the fence when she felt a sudden weight tip her balance. She tried to spin around, but Sophie was clinging tightly.

"Are you okay, Sophie?" Cinder asked out of surprise. "Are you nervous?"

"No, I'm okay," Sophie beamed up at her with bright green eyes, "I'll just miss you, Cinder."

Cinder felt the ghost of a smile touch her lips and she laughed lightheartedly. "Okay, Sophie. Have a good time."

After that, Cinder walked the extra mile back to the house and closed the door. She kicked off her shoes and threw her sweatshirt on the counter, leaving her gloves on out of a newly formed habit. With the house practically empty and no Sophie to constantly pine for her attention, she let out a long sigh of relief. She should have gone to get Jack, but she was unsure whether he had taken her advice and gone to make a wintery mess of other places. Not having anything to do, she walked over to the fridge and opened the door. Cinder wasn't necessarily hungry, but being bored meant nearly the same thing, anyway.

"It's a wonder I'm not fat," Cinder laughed to herself. "Jamie! Do you want a snack or something?"

"He ain't here, mate," a voice called back to her.

Cinder closed the fridge and shrieked when she saw the giant rabbit standing in the living room. "First you break up a skating spree, and then you sneak into a house and scare the living daylights out of me. What's next, O Easter Bunny?" Cinder asked sarcastically.

"It's just Bunny. Where's Jamie?"

He hadn't left a note that Cinder could see, so she assumed that he was up in his room. "I thought he came home," Cinder looked at Bunny strangely.

"And I thought Jack was bringing the ankle-biters home," Bunny retorted.

Cinder shook her head. "I caught up with him and said I'd pick up the kids. I can't have spirits doing my job for me and collect the money on a clear conscience. And you can relax, Jack told me about what happened with Pitch."

"Yeah, well, why didn't you keep Jamie in your sight?"

Cinder was beginning to panic. "I had to bring Sophie to a friend's house, and Jamie was just going to head right home. It's hardly a ten minute walk. I thought he'd be fine. I thought... oh," Cinder choked out in realization. Jack had trusted her, like she had trusted him and finally allowed him to be a friend. Her heartbeat quickened and her breaths came out short. "Oh no, no, no. Bunny. No, Jamie must have caught up with his friends at some point, and went with them. Check, um, no. Oh no."

"Are you awlright, mate?" Bunny hopped closer to her.

"I'm going to go get Jack. You look around the town, okay?"

Before Bunny could reply, Cinder ran out the door without putting on her shoes or sweater. She slipped down the hill and called out to Jack, not caring if anyone heard or saw her and thought she was crazy. Perhaps she was. She hoped she was.

"Oh Jack!" Cinder exclaimed as she ran full speed into Jack's body. She stared up at him for a few full seconds before pulling away and wiping a tear from her eye. She told him what had happened without answering his questions. She said that Bunny had been at the house waiting for them and Jamie went on ahead of her but he never made it home and she was to blame and she felt horrible for betraying them and for letting this happen and...

"Jack, what if Pitch kidnapped Jamie?" Cinder didn't know why this would be his first move. She told him directly that she was watching these kids, and he was interfering with it just because of a plan that he never even told her about. If Pitch had told her in the first place... no; she'd probably still be upset.

"Relax. You said Bunny was still searching, right?" Jack tried to soothe her panic. Cinder wouldn't admit that it helped a little, but she nodded in answer.

"He's not here," Bunny came over to them, "I've looked everywhere."

Cinder was mortified. She screwed up again. She had both sides angry at her now. "I'm so sorry, I did this. Please, let me help. What do we do?"

"We─" Jack began.

"_Jack and I_," Bunny emphasized, "will go back to the Pole and report back. You need to stay here," Bunny took out a round, snow globe-like object and whispered to it before tossing it on the ground. A bright flash temporarily blinded Cinder as an image formed in the middle. That was when she realized it must have been some kind of portal, and they were going to leave her here alone. She was not okay with that. Waiting until just after the pair had walked through it, she jumped through before the portal closed up.

What happened next, she couldn't explain. It was like the wind beating at her when she flew, but she was standing still and so was the air around her. A pressure was pushing and pulling her, tearing at her limbs with a ferocity she did not expect. Within the instant, the air grew warmer and Cinder felt like the heat inside her would implode her being if she stayed here too long. Tripping over her own feet as she fell through, she landed on a furry red carpet, coughing roughly.

Several confused gasps resounded in the room above her. Looking up, she saw a tall man with a long white beard, a short, golden and crazy-haired man, a beautiful multi-colored fairy, as well as Bunny and Jack all staring down at her.

"Cinder?" Jack asked at last. "What are you doing here?"

Cinder picked herself off the floor and brushed her arms. "I told you I wanted to help."

"Who is girl, Jack?" the extraordinarily tall, wide man asked.

"You could ask me yourself, you know," Cinder put her hand on her hip. She was sick of all of these spirits thinking she couldn't see them. She thought they would have been able to tell that she was also a spirit, but apparently she could be wrong three times in a row and still be sane.

The three that she didn't recognize all gasped in unison.

"You can see us?" the purple-eyed fairy asked with wide features.

"You must be the Tooth Fairy," Cinder commented, ignoring the question. "Nice to meet you. And you must be Santa, and that leaves the Sandman," Cinder squatted down to the gold man's level. He nodded and sounds of soft crystal bells were heard in Cinder's ear. It was peaceful and sleep-like. She smiled, realizing that he was mute. "I like you already," she said as the Sandman gave her a high-five.

The tall man laughed. "And you can call me North."

"I didn't think Santa would be Russian," Cinder muttered under her breath. "North it is," she spoke louder to cover herself.

But when she turned to the Tooth Fairy, she was met with prying fingers in her mouth. Cinder muffled profanity that the others couldn't make out before Tooth took her fingers away.

"You could stand to floss a bit more," she wagged her finger at her, "and I'm Tooth. Wow, Jack! How'd you find a believer as old as she is?" Tooth flew over to Jack, but Cinder noticed that she had gone behind him, as if she was suddenly scared of Cinder. She noticed that the beautiful fairy was staring cautiously at Cinder's scar, and she became very self-conscious.

"Well," Jack offered his hand down to Cinder and she took it─ her hand thankfully gloved─ standing up abruptly, "she's─"

"I'm Jamie and Sophie's sitter," Cinder answered for him. Jack shot her a look but she ignored him.

"Which reminds me! Bunny!" North pulled out a sharp cutlass and pointed it at the Easter Bunny. "Why are you not at house watching Jamie?"

"He's missing, sir," Cinder cut in again, determined to be heard, "and I think Pitch has him."

"What?!" the Russian man yelled. North spun around to point what had now become two cutlasses at Jack and Bunny. "Explain yourselves."

"It's not their fault!" Cinder stepped in between the cutlasses and North withdrew them. The act made several Guardians gasp, and Cinder took it to mean that this was a gutsy move. "I told Jack I was going to pick up the kids from school. Jamie walked ahead while I took Sophie to a friend's house. Jack told me about your plan, but I thought the short walk home was going to be fine. I'm sorry."

What looked like sand flew past her and Cinder looked down at the Sandman. Thousands of grains of sand were above his head, and it took her a minute before she realized that they were images. But they were flying so fast that Cinder had no clue what he was doing.

"Is he... talking? Can someone translate?" Cinder pointed to the Sandman.

"He said, 'is not your fault. Pitch is tricky man.' We were waiting for this," North interpreted as best he could.

Cinder nodded ruefully. She knew exactly how Pitch acted, and this was typical. And yet, he should have told her. Cinder berated herself over and over again for not following him after getting out of the lair. She should have asked him about what he was planning. She wouldn't be so tightly bound in this mess if she had just been a little smarter, and it didn't make her feel any better.

"Let's get you home, mate," Bunny hopped up to her and grabbed her arm, but yelped in pain as soon as he made contact with her. Wagging his paw, Cinder saw that the fur was blackened or even bare where her arm had touched him. She stifled a giggle, knowing this was neither the time nor the place to be revealing herself.

Covering up Bunny's incident, Cinder spoke up. "I am not going back to Burgess without Jamie. You're going to let me help, or I'm not going to leave." Bunny gave her a rude stare, but didn't say anything.

"But what about Sophie?" Jack asked.

Cinder gulped. "I was hoping my stubbornness would win out before she had to be home."

"Even if we let you help, what makes you think you can trick Pitch? He is not dumb man," North tried to talk her down.

"I don't need to trick him," Cinder was trying her hardest to convince them to allow a human girl help them, "I just need to sneak by him and rescue Jamie."

"We don't even know where the bloody guy is!" Bunny hopped up to her. Cinder looked down to see that he was ignoring the pain in his paw. "How do we expect a human sheila like you, no offense, to find this guy's hide out when we don't _ever_ seem to know where he is?"

Cinder set her mouth in a tight line, determined not to burn the kangaroo in a loss of temper. Should she just tell them what she is? No, Jack told her they knew about the fire spirit burning the villages. Cinder swore silently to herself for performing poorly. She had to convince them otherwise.

"Okay, well, I can make him come to me," Cinder said at last. The Guardians looked at her with mixed looks of disbelief, worry, and confusion.

"Excuse me, dear, could you explain how that's a good idea?" The Tooth Fairy fretted.

Cinder bit her lip and dove right in. "I have panic attacks regularly. I've had them for a long time, really, and I know when something is going to set me off. I can use that excessive amount of panic to lure him in."

"And den we come in and attack, yes?" North already had his cutlasses out. Cinder's jaw fell momentarily as she admired the swords and this guy's brass attitude. "But no. Out of question." The big guy coincidentally had a big heart as well.

"But," Bunny stuttered, "but there's one tiny problem. What makes you think he'd bring Jamie with him?"

The Guardians murmured similar agreement. Cinder knew that Pitch would show up with Jamie. That's just how the Nightmare King was. But this wasn't her actual plan. Cinder just needed the Guardians to trust her.

"That man knows I'm their sitter," Cinder said with a little too much confidence, "I mean, otherwise he's completely blind and I have no idea why you guys would have such a hard time with him. Look, the point is, I can do this. Just let me get Jamie back."

"We understand you want to help," North put his large hand on Cinder's shoulder, and she was surprised to find that his body temperature was nearly as warm as hers. It was comforting, in a way. "But is too dangerous. You are just human, and we do not know what Pitch is planning."

"Please," Cinder's voice was thick with emotions that surprised those listening, "he's my responsibility. I am the one who needs to do this. He would recognize a Guardian sooner than he would recognize me. And he would never know I'm working with you guys to get Jamie back. I would just look like a worried sitter. Please, please, let me get Jamie back!" Cinder fell to the floor, her own breaths choking her and closing her throat. She wasn't sure why, but she knew that keeping Jamie and Sophie safe was the most important thing to her now. Her other obligations could wait. She felt Jack's eyes on her. Peering in his direction, she noticed his features had softened. Perhaps he understood.

_Besides_, she thought in order to stop herself from crying, _I can get any orders or answers from Pitch while I'm at it. _

After a long pause, North sighed heavily. "I guess we can send someone with you─"

"No!" Cinder spoke out too quickly. "I mean, the chances will be better if I go alone. You wouldn't want to chance Jamie getting hurt, would you?"

"Even if you do get Jamie back, Pitch would get away," Bunny reminded them.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Cinder's voice broke in frustration.

"She's right," the Tooth Fairy spoke up. "Right now, Jamie's safety is more important."

"We are not letting her go alone!" Jack had squeezed his way back into the conversation.

"Is that volunteer?" North clapped his hand against Jack's back, making him step forward to keep balance. Cinder muffled a laugh and Jack shot her an accusing look.

"Wait, you can't send Jack with her!" Bunny insisted.

"Why not?" Jack suddenly became defensive.

Cinder took this precious moment of bickering and sprinted out of the room. Running down the halls, her bare feet hardly made a sound as they carried her farther away. The woodwork in this place was flawless and intricate with designs of winter and joy. The red and white carpets had all sorts of jolly decorations that were only there to be trampled on. Cinder would have taken more notice if she wasn't so focused on getting out of the damn place. There seemed to be no outside doors, and Cinder wondered how this version of Santa Claus ever left the place.

That's when she had an idea and looked for the nearest staircase. Jumping onto the railing, she slid her way down on the smooth, splinter-free wood. It seemed to spiral downward forever, so Cinder jumped and fell a few feet before grabbing onto the bottom of one railing and swinging herself back onto the stairs. Skimming the stairs a few at a time, she made her way down to a barn-like doorway. Sniffing the air carefully, she knew she came to the right place.

The reindeer were far larger than Cinder had anticipated. And louder; they wouldn't stop making noise as soon as she had stepped onto their floors. At first, she tried to calm one down, but it nearly bit her hand off. Cinder decided it would be better to just follow the walkway until she came around a corner and found a giant wooden structure with what looked like wings. _This must be North's sleigh, it's... different than I imagined._ She marveled at it momentarily until she heard the reindeer begin a second round of whining and huffing and other obnoxious noises. Swearing under her breath, she pulled on a lever and crawled out through a large door that was beginning to lift open.

Cinder pushed off the ground and ran as fast as she could out in the open air. She stopped dead when she saw that although she was outside, she was surrounded by impossibly high ice structures that cut off her view of the rest of the world. _I really am up at the North Pole..._ Cinder thought, crossing her arms. She didn't feel cold but she knew it was easily in the negative numbers in terms of temperature out here. Looking down at her feet, she frowned and wished that she had at least grabbed her shoes and sweater so she didn't look entirely crazy.

"Hey!" Jack's voice called behind her. "What are you doing out here? You don't have shoes or a jacket. You're going to freeze out here!" He came up and walked in front of her. But Cinder just stood there.

"I told you, I don't feel cold," Cinder reminded him without looking in his eyes. She knew if she did that, there was a chance she would begin listening to him. She couldn't have that.

"Just because you don't feel cold doesn't mean your body isn't going to freeze and go into shock and die," Jack reached out for her bare arm but then retracted it.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "You don't get it, Jack. I cannot get cold. Look," Cinder stuck out her arms, "no blacks and blues, no frostbite, not even goose bumps. And I've already been out here a few minutes."

Jack stared at her arms and then back at her. Realization dawned on his features, but Cinder didn't want to explain any further.

"Anyway," Cinder took her arms back and walked around him, "I'm going to go get Jamie while your club argues about the next important holiday or whatever." But before she could get farther away, Jack was standing in front of her again, his staff barring her way.

"Cinder, I've seen your panic attacks," Jack said, "and I don't think you understand what you're doing. Do you really want to go through one of those again?"

The wind picked up its pace and Cinder held up her hand to keep some of her hair from flying in her face. Now was not the time for Jack to be playing the role of a friend.

"Look, you care. I get that. But I need to get Jamie back. His mother is coming home in, like, four days and if she comes home to only one kid, I don't get a paycheck and─"

"You only want to get him back so you can have some money in your pocket?" Jack sounded disgusted with her.

"Okay, I didn't meant to phrase it like that, but─"

"What if Sophie was the one who was kidnapped?"

"I mean, technically, it's the same scenario─"

"I've seen the way you are with her," Jack interrupted Cinder yet again, "you care about her. If Sophie was the one kidnapped by Pitch, wouldn't you do anything to get her back safely?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "Since when have you wanted to go along with the other Guardians' plans? You always seemed like the 'I'll do whatever I want' type. Why change that now?"

"Cinder," Jack set his staff on the ground and leaned on it, "you could get hurt. Pitch could destroy you and we'd be no closer to getting him locked away again."

Cinder almost laughed. She knew better than any of them what Pitch was capable of, but she also knew that Pitch wouldn't hurt her. He needed her, or would soon anyway. "I'm not his target," Cinder tried to make it sound like a lie. She had begun to walk away, leaving Jack behind, when he spoke up.

"Wait," Jack stopped her again, his eyes softer, "will you at least answer a question for me before you go?"

"Oh, come on," Cinder pretended to tap a watch on her wrist, "Jamie's not getting saved any faster."

Jack nodded to her chest. "What's the black mark?"

Cinder hadn't expected that. It was a fairly random question, but she knew he had noticed it the other day. He must have been waiting to ask about it. Now was a weird time. Not knowing how to answer, Cinder shrugged and looked past him. Her eyes glazed over momentarily.

"You can tell me, you know," Jack added. "As much as you probably don't want to admit to it, I do consider you a friend. I won't tell anyone, if that's what you want." Cinder was defensive, unsure whether or not Jack was telling the truth.

The same, familiar feeling crept into Cinder's lungs and depleted much of the oxygen. She was trying to play with both sides, thinking that she wouldn't be affected. But here she was, standing in front of the person who was supposed to be her enemy. Cinder realized she had treated him harshly, but she had truly believed up until now that it had been for good reason. Looking in his eyes finally, she saw what she hoped wouldn't be there. His cold, blue eyes told her that they cared and were willing to help her. But for so long, Cinder had denied that sort of help.

And she was about to deny it again.

"Look, I was confident back there that Pitch would come find me because," Cinder paused, choosing her words carefully, "because he knows me. I'm an accident in his fear book, if you will. Terrible metaphor, I know. But the fact is that he would do anything to correct that mistake."

Jack's eyes narrowed and then widened. "He's the reason for your panic attacks...?"

"And I'm the reason he'll relinquish Jamie," Cinder wrapped up her lie neatly and walked around Jack yet again. This time, Jack didn't follow her. She knew that Jack understood the implications of what she just said.

Cinder got to the top of the circular hole and gasped when she saw that the hole went down steeply into a maze of ice passages. Steadying her breath and withdrawing her heat back into herself, she jumped down and slipped and skated through the tunnels. When she finally got out, and was confident that Jack or anyone else hadn't followed her, she flew into the air and sped off.

Cinder took out a snow globe that she had stolen off a table in the meeting room and tossed it in the air in front of her like she had seen Bunny do. She shouted out a destination near Burgess and was instantly transported to the clearing with the large gaping hole. Standing back for a moment, she felt proud of herself for getting the portal thing right on the first try. Hopefully North couldn't trace back his portal's whereabouts. Falling into the tunnel, she reached the cavern with a little more finesse than the first time.

"Pitch!" Cinder yelled. "Pitch, get out here! Damn it!" Cinder kicked at one of the pillars. "You _knew _I was watching these kids! You can't use them for your twisted games!" Fire burned inside her and the cave began to glow in her anger. She felt like beating this guy to a pulp for all of the stuff she'd been put through in the past few days. Who cared if it wasn't entirely his fault? Cinder was furious and she wanted to burn everything down to ashes.

"Cinder!" She heard a faint voice call out below the bridge she was standing on.

"Jamie! Hold on, I'll come to you!"

"Cinder!" Jamie's voice was suddenly behind her. She spun around on her heel to find that he was being held by Pitch's shadows at the edge of the cavern on the side of the bridge. Cinder's heart dropped farther than the cavern depths allowed.

But Cinder didn't answer because behind him, controlling the shadows, was Pitch.

"Cinder," a hint of surprise betrayed Pitch's deep voice, "what lovely circumstances. I was wondering when you'd get my calls."

"What's he talking about, Cinder?" Jamie managed to ask before a shadow covered his mouth again.

Cinder's eyes flickered to the teenage boy momentarily and she saw the uncertainty written on his face. If he knew about Cinder's real connection to Pitch, Jack would know in no time... and so would the Guardians. "Just let the boy go, Pitch."

"I'm hurt," Pitch clutched his chest dramatically, "I thought you were on my side."

"You're on _his_ side?!" Jamie's voice rose.

"Ignore him, Jamie!" Cinder spat urgently. "Pitch, let's talk about this, _alone_."

"My pleasure," Pitch murmured sinisterly. He snapped his fingers and Jamie was carried back down into the depths below. His screams tore at a weight on Cinder's heart and she nearly gasped.

They spoke at length for several hours. Cinder made multiple demands only to be met with more questions by her superior. Pitch instigated Cinder, telling her that she was growing soft and complacent if a little teenage boy was making her upset. Cinder tried to swat at him a few times with her fire, but the attempts were unsuccessful. In one of her outbursts, she told him that she found out about his message to the Guardians and connected the dots when Jamie went missing.

"Who told you?"

Cinder clamped her mouth shut when she realized what she'd done. Jack was the only one that would have told her. "Look, I'll do whatever it takes to get that kid back home," Cinder tried to backtrack, "I can't do work for you if I don't have a cover. Are you forgetting they can still see me?"

"Who told you?" Pitch repeated, his appearance growing darker.

Cinder closed her eyes and let out her breath. She knew she was caught, but Pitch was pulling her into answering his question. "Jack Frost," she said at last.

"And you didn't tell me about this until now because...?" Pitch whispered menacingly.

Then Cinder had an idea. "I thought I could use him to get to the Guardians. I managed to make him take me to the North Pole. That's why I'm here. They believe that I'm rescuing Jamie for their sake."

Pitch was about to hit her with his fearful power and Cinder ducked, waiting for the blow that never struck her. Peering through her hair, she saw that Pitch was looking out into the distance, a smile beginning to take over his features.

"Cinder, darling," he picked her up so that she stood straight and he shook her shoulders, "you are a genius!"

Cinder was surprised by the sudden praise. "So can I have the boy back?"

Pitch's smile disappeared. "No," disgust held in his undertones, "I need him still."

"What if I brought you something? Like the Guardians' weapons," Cinder improvised, remembering the two sharp cutlasses that North had in his possession, "or spied on them? I could get you details that your silly shadows could never figure out."

"My dear, dear, Cinder," Pitch caressed her face with his gray, cold hand, "I've already expected just that of you. But no, I don't need their weapons. You're going to bring me something more... potent." He leaned closer and whispered into Cinder's ear, her eyes growing wide.

"But why? I thought they were worthless!" Cinder looked at him in horror.

"I think, in your case, they're worth the trouble," Pitch walked over to the edge of the precipice and snapped his fingers. Jamie was brought back up to their level and fear for his life was vibrant in his features. Cinder realized he was trying to scream, but he was bound by strange cloth.

"What are you doing to him?!" Cinder leapt toward the boy in a feeble attempt to catch him. But Jamie scrambled away from her. "No, no, it's me, Cinder. I'm going to get you out of here, I promise. Don't listen to this guy," she whispered hastily before Pitch grabbed the back of her shirt and hoisted her in the air. Cinder kicked and swung her arms, failing to connect any of them to the Nightmare King. Frustration crawled through her because she couldn't use her powers in front of Jamie.

Pitch threw Cinder's body downward so that she was partially hanging off the edge. Before she could fall over, he set his foot on her abdomen. "And while you're at it, I've another job for you."

"What," Cinder clutched at his foot as if she had claws, "makes you think I'll follow more orders?"

Pitch looked down at her hand and noticed the ring she always wore was gone. A smile crept into his features. "I think you'll prefer to follow these, rather than facing the other option..."

Cinder's body weakened after the wave of fear hit her. Her throat tightened and she began to cough with the effort it took to expand her lungs. The green specks in her eyes flickered, and slowly churned into a deep, sickly yellow. Cinder stopped struggling. Her hands fell limp as she listened patiently to her instructions.

* * *

**A/N: I feel like this chapter has too much dialogue, what do you think? Some of my chapters I wrote rather quickly and dialogue is usually much faster. Granted I'm writing Chapter 25 and still well ahead, but I wonder if I'm not degrading the story some. Hopefully that's not the case!**

**By the way, you guys should check out my one-shot, _The Boy Who Cried Wolf!_ It may become a part of the sequel to this story but if not I'll add a story to it. Just take a look and perhaps tell me what you think? :)**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	16. Recurrences

**A/N: AH! Sorry for updating late, guys! It's the weekend before I leave for college again and I've been trying (and failing) to catch up on my work... On the other hand I have drawings of Cinder up on my profile if you want to check it out. :) I also have a drawing of Fenrir from my one-shot (which you should totally check out :D). I'll also have a drawing of another character (from the same one-shot) up shortly. **

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 16** \- _Recurrences_

* * *

When Jack made it back up to the meeting hall, the other Guardians were waiting anxiously. They had bickered about sending Jack with Cinder to lure Pitch in and rescue Jamie when Cinder dashed out of the room with the intent of flying out of there if she could. Jack was still disgruntled about Bunny refusing to let Jack go with her simply because "she distracts him." What did that even mean? Cinder didn't distract him. Jack had been furious about the other Guardians' agreement, and that's when he left to go find the redhead. Her hair had practically been standing on its end when she came through the portal. Jack found it sort of cute at first, but he was quickly upset that she had followed them to the North Pole. Now the Guardians knew where Jack was really spending his time instead of working.

But that didn't matter. Not a whole lot mattered except getting Jamie back and keeping everyone safe. And Jack was already failing the latter. He let Cinder run out in the freezing cold because she felt so strongly about her plan. Jack wasn't going to have any of it, but realization after realization dawned on him as they spoke together.

Cinder did not get cold. She made that clear. Cinder knew Pitch from awhile ago, it seemed like. But more importantly, she had been willing to let Pitch find her again and possibly capture her in a trade for Jamie. In any other circumstance, Jack would never have let a human partake in such a crazy plan. But Jack's doubts were about to spill over and before he could figure out more, Cinder had vanished. He wanted desperately to follow her and help, but he knew being in Pitch's presence would spell doom for her safety. If she was wanted by Pitch, and he saw that they had teamed up, Pitch wouldn't hesitate to hurt her─ or worse.

But Jack didn't want to think about what was worse.

"Where is she, Jack?" Tooth asked worriedly as soon as he walked back into the room. She flew right up to him with the most urgent of looks in her eyes. Baby Tooth flew around both of them in a buzzing frenzy. Tooth's purple eyes told him much more, however, as uncertainty and doubt flooded her features. There was something that she wasn't mentioning to him, at least not in front of the other Guardians.

"I couldn't find her," Jack lied, hoping they would believe him, "she must've taken a portal globe and left."

"Rimsky Korsakov!" North bellowed angrily.

"See? _This _is why we didn't want you goin' with her," Bunny instigated, "you just lost her and she was right next to you!"

"What was that, Cottontail?" Jack aimed his staff at Bunny. The glowering faces given to each other were enough to send chills through everyone's bodies.

Sandy jumped up between them and pushed them away from each other. He shook his head disapprovingly and wagged his finger at them in shame. This was not the time, nor the place, to fight with each other. They were supposed to be working together, and it was the product of their arguing that led to Cinder running off. Then, Sandy turned to Jack and started to sign. Cinder's face was first, and Jack marveled at the detail that Sandy was able to recreate. But before he could fully admire it, the dream sand changed to the next image: &amp;. Then there was a golden replica of Pitch's nightmares and finally a question mark. Jack was unsure about the exact meaning of the question, but he tried to answer.

"How does Cinder know Pitch?" Jack clarified. When Sandy nodded, Jack took a deep breath. "I don't really know. But you saw the scar on her chest, right, guys?"

"That thing was a scar?" Bunny scoffed.

"Did Pitch give her that scar?" Tooth's features worsened yet again. Was Jack imagining it or was there really something deeper written on Tooth's face?

"I would guess so, from what she's told me," Jack affirmed.

Sandy's frown grew and he shook his head solemnly. Golden sand above his head told them that if such was the case, then she was in trouble. But upon seeing Jack's alarmed expression, Sandy put his hands up and slowed them downward in a gesture that meant to calm down. Then more sand impressed images above the Sandman's head that said perhaps Pitch would not recognize her. It didn't ease Jack's mind, for now he was troubled with the fact that his initial feelings were validated by one of the oldest Guardians. That type of wisdom is seldom wrong.

"Say, Jack," North began cautiously, "how come she is believer?"

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. At first, the question didn't make sense, because Jack had already assented to the fact that Cinder could see him, despite her age, and had gotten used to it. When it came right down to it, however, Jack noticed how she hadn't believed in him at first. Did she not believe in any of them? "She's not really a believer," Jack admitted, "but she can see us."

The Guardians all exchanged looks. Each furtive look strengthened intensely and lines were beginning to crease in their foreheads. Eventually, they all looked to Sandy. Twiddling his thumbs, Sandy pursed his lips and thought a moment. Two opinions were pining for his approval, and it seemed like he couldn't make heads or tails of it. Either could be right, but some details clearly weren't adding up for him. After what seemed like an eternity, he nodded gravely. All the while, Jack stood there, leaning on his staff in confusion.

"What? What is it?" Jack spoke with annoyance creeping into his voice.

"You couldn't tell, Jack?" Tooth pushed.

"Tell what?"

"That sheila ain't human, mate," Bunny clarified. "I can't believe it took me this long ta realize it myself."

"Her teeth didn't match up to anything I have for eighteen-year-olds," Tooth added. And she kept her teeth _very_ organized.

"And she's never been on list in past eighteen years, nice or naughty," North pointed out as well.

"But that's impossible! Cinder─"

"How would you know, Jack? How long 'ave you known her, ay?" Bunny interrupted. "An', an', an' look 'ere, she burned my paw with her hand. Her skin was _hot_," Bunny held up the paw he had tried to take Cinder's bare arm with. Fur was missing and the skin did look red.

Jack was entirely confused. Then he looked at his own arm, pulling up the sleeve tenderly. The other Guardians stared at his arm, eyes wide with disbelief. The long, gash-like burns still raked up to his elbow, although it didn't hurt anymore. At least, it didn't hurt as much for the moment. When Cinder was closer, his arm had begun to ache and it never settled well with him. He usually brushed it off, but now things were starting to come together. Perhaps...

"What's that, Jack?" Tooth's little voice asked shakily.

"That's what happened when I tried to take her hand," Jack explained, "sort of like Bunny's paw. But... at the same time this happened, her arm froze. Her entire arm was encased in ice that I didn't make."

"Zum sort of hyper-reaction, no?" North ventured.

"Blimey..." Bunny swore, "she's gotta that bloody fire spirit that burned down that town! And we just let her run back to Pitch!" He started hopping anxiously.

"No, it can't be," Jack shook his head, although his voice wasn't sure. Before Jack's eyes, Cinder's face appeared. It was the same as the night he made it snow in Jamie's kitchen. The same face that softened, smiled, and even beamed at him. She was bathed in moonlight, her red hair a pale color in the dim light cast by his white snow. The look of pure wonder that captivated her features and cast her green eyes upon his blue ones was as active as if it were happening in that moment all over again. There was no way, he repeated to himself. Cinder could never, would never, do anything to hurt children. Or at least not Jamie and Sophie, but Jack liked to think that her character applied to all people. Not once did he think that Cinder would ever harm Sophie.

"It can't be. She would never harm Jamie or Sophie," Jack said with more confidence. "Bunny, you saw her with Sophie, right? Sophie didn't get burned by Cinder."

"Nor did she burn my hand." North agreed. For once, Jack felt like his opinion was getting somewhere.

"How can a spirit─ if she is one─ be seen by humans then?" Jack asked. "She's not someone with a story, a recognizable name; children don't call out her name and cheer, like they would if they saw one of you guys." Jack winced inwardly at his own words, knowing he didn't include himself in that description hurt. "They see her as one of them. And she's only eighteen, there's no way she─"

"An' how do we know that, ice-brain?" Bunny asked pointedly. When Jack didn't answer, he continued. "Tooth said she didn't have the sheila's teeth."

"She said there was no record─ maybe Cinder's lying by a year or two. Tooth, help me out?" But when Jack turned to where Tooth had been hovering, the other Guardians noticed that Tooth was gone. She probably had more teeth-collecting matters to attend to. Except now was a crucial time to have left. "Tooth?"

_She wouldn't leave so suddenly like this unless she had an idea. Maybe I should go and talk to her._

"Does not matter so much right now," North cut in. "Now is when we wait for her return. Jack, you said she had to pick up de little girl, yes?"

"Yeah... but she's sort of rescuing Jamie at the moment." Jack wasn't sure if anyone else believed him. Again.

"Either is good. Wait for her at house. Let us know when she returns and bring her here."

"Why do I have to do the escorting?" Jack pointed to Bunny. "Wasn't it Bunny's turn before Jamie went missing?"

"An' who's the one responsible for this mess, Jack?" Bunny said accusingly. "Maybe she planned it so that Jamie would get kidnapped."

"Why would she plan something that makes her suspicious?" Jack was becoming argumentative.

"Jack. Go. Now," North tossed one globe in front of him that opened a portal to Burgess and put another one in Jack's hands, pushing Jack through the portal.

* * *

Tooth was frantically flying around her palace, looking through every tooth case she still kept from Jack's time. What the other Guardians didn't know was that she didn't always release the memories of the dead. Sometimes she liked to keep them and look through their events. They were filled with a thousand pieces of happiness that she could never fully enjoy herself. She was dedicated to all of the teeth, but some held a special feeling within her. She hoped that the same feeling was in a tooth case that held Jack's missing tooth. The tooth had to have been extracted around the same time as his human life.

_Jack can't know a tooth is missing. Who knows how he'd react? He could be furious, or depressed, or scared, or, or, or..._

Tooth shook her head. She had to stop being so negative. Jack's tooth _was_ collected, it just wasn't collected properly. It must have been put in another kid's case.

But did that mean someone else had pieces of Jack's memories?

Yet as extensively as she looked─ which was extensively extensive─ she couldn't find a single tooth out of place.

Little did she know, the thing that she was looking for had already been moved.

* * *

Jack fell out of the portal clumsily and his staff was knocked out of his reach and tossed against a wall. The carpet that he glided on gave his shins a slight rug burn. Hitting his head hard against the floor several times, the environment swirled around him momentarily. When everything slowed, Jack propped himself on his hands and shook his head, gathering information about where he was. There was a bed, several hockey and sports posters, and a desk with many crumpled papers. At first Jack couldn't make heads or tails of the room until he saw a familiar hockey jersey. He had been transported directly into Jamie's room. Jack figured as much, it was the only room in this house that North had been in and would have known the exact coordinates. North was very good at controlling his portals, something Jack and the other Guardians had a hard time comprehending. Standing up finally, he brushed himself off and checked his legs. If they were hurt, it didn't show. Jack shrugged it off, retrieved his staff, and sat on Jamie's bed, tapping his feet furiously.

The Guardians finally believed _some _of the words that were coming out of Jack's mouth, but not the ones he hoped that they would. They were blaming Cinder for Jamie disappearance, but Jack didn't have the heart to tell them about the tears in her eyes or the fear in her voice when she came running to him in profuse apology. Her tearful face softening when she hugged him came to the forefront of his memory again. She couldn't kill anyone. She couldn't work for Pitch.

Cinder was trading herself for Jamie. Surely they all realized this, right?

Jack tilted his staff forward and leaned it against his lowered head in thought. How could he have let her run off to such a fate? Her confidence in rescuing Jamie was so genuine.

But that didn't mean the facts weren't adding up. Cinder wasn't shivering outside the North Pole, despite having no shoes or sweater. Cinder's touch scorched Jack's hand. Cinder's tooth record wasn't in the right place. Cinder wasn't on any Guardian's list. Perhaps she wasn't human...

But so what? She was someone Jack's age that could see him. If she was actually a spirit, that made it even better, right? They could stay friends and always be able to see each other. Jack wouldn't be constantly alone when the few kids that could see him weren't around. Just because there was a small chance that she was a spirit (Jack couldn't bring himself to believe that it was much more than a small chance, but some part of him knew better than that), didn't mean that she worked for Pitch. The only thing that would indicate such a conclusion would be that she knew him from a long time ago, when he gave her that scar.

_How did he give her that scar? _

Nothing made sense. Jack wanted to affirm with all of his being that Cinder wasn't who they thought she was. But the way that it looked right now, Cinder would be taken under investigation by North. At the very least, she was under suspicion.

Hating being alone with his thoughts, Jack left the room and closed the door. He walked around each room of the house, memorizing each contour halfheartedly. Anything he could do to not think about the current situation would have been welcome. The hallway was lit in pale afternoon light that softened the edges of doors and walls. The window's curtains moved slightly as Jack passed, and he paused to watch the patterns swirl with each fold. He tipped his staff under the curtain and held it up to his face momentarily. The lace held intricate patterns that held no real meaning within its negative spaces. Jack blew on the gentle fabric and watched as crystalline structures filled in the spaces between the threads. It was enough to fill the void, but not enough to leave the curtain frozen stiff. Jack twirled the head of his staff so that the curtain would fall back into place, but a piece was caught in a frayed piece of the wood. Tilting his head tentatively, he pinched the lace and lifted it around the obstruction in his staff, letting it glide down to the window.

It was then that he saw a flash of red. He instantly stuck his face and hands to the glass, frosting it immediately. Wiping away some of his own work, he looked around. Jack prayed to whoever could hear him that it had been Cinder. That she had gotten Jamie back here and that they were safe. But no, the red that had flickered through his vision was nothing but the red wagon that never left the Bennett's back yard. The wind had pushed some of the snow away, making the wagon visible once more. Frowning, Jack pulled away and walked down the hallway again, studying everything, from the minor details in the tacky wallpaper to the individually colored threads in the carpet that ran to the door at the end.

Not knowing what the door went to, nor particularly caring, he took the knob and opened it anyway. Inside was a boring closet. Mostly empty, excepting an old broom, mop, and several boxes. Satisfied with his less-than-satisfying inquiry, he closed the door and turned to the next door. If he was remembering right, it led to Sophie's room.

As he opened the door, the smell of Play-Doh filled his nostrils and Jack blinked in surprise and the ghost of a smile spread on his features. Sophie was still so young, and acted younger, as far as Jack could tell. She held onto childhood for all her might, which Jack always thought was odd. Normally, children couldn't wait to grow up. Sophie was much like Jack in that neither particularly wanted to grow up. Perhaps she would keep believing in him when she got older...

Shaking the thought from his mind, he walked through the middle of the room. That was the only place to really walk to in the room because toys masked the rest of the floor. Her bed covers were torn away from the bed in so many directions that Jack wasn't sure how many sheets there actually were. It was so messy in here that Jack wondered how she ever got ready in the morning. Of course, the room being a mess probably wasn't a big deal to Sophie. She had all the toys and stuffed animals in the world to comfort her. Leaping over to her bed, Jack glided down with minimal effort into a sitting position. Sophie was so akin to Jack's sister that it took his balance right from under him.

That's when Jack saw the drawing. It was tacked to the wall next to her bed, above an art piece that Jack could only assume was the finished product of what she asked Cinder to help her with. The drawing was crude and colored in with crayons, but Jack could make out the figures. It looked to be the pond, colored a light blue, surrounded by brown lines that Jack assumed were trees. Off on the corner of the paper was a stick figure with brown strokes of hair and a pink tongue sticking out. Jack laughed, instantly thinking of Jamie. On the pond were three stick figures. The stick figure on the right was blue and was holding a staff, making a very wide smile. Jack chuckled at himself as his eyes continued to move to the other figures. The last two figures looked they were hugging or holding hands, and both were outlined black. The smaller one was given yellow crayon hair strokes and the larger was given an orange color. They were all smiling, and the orange one was holding one arm out toward Jack. Above the three figures in the middle was a small, lopsided heart, colored a bright red.

Jack frowned as he realized what he was looking at and he walked out of the room. He wouldn't allow the thoughts to pervade his mind, even if they were already flooding in front of his eyes. Blinded, he walked into the next room he saw and fell on the bed, waiting for the panic to blow over. If this is what a panic attack was like, he'd have to hug Cinder tightly the next time he saw her, provided she was wearing her gloves and no skin was showing. This wasn't fun at all, and it scared him. His throat swelled and he coughed. Halting everything for a moment, he inhaled the sweet, warm scent coming from the sheets beneath him. Something about them felt like a memory.

Then it flooded back into his consciousness again. The yellow eyes, the burly man, the floating cloak, everything from that first attack was washing over him like new. His mother and sister were crying for him somewhere in the distance that he couldn't see. Opening his eyes, Jack was found to be in the middle of a clearing lit by something above. Around the clearing were thousands of thick pine trees. It vaguely reminded him of Burgess three hundred years ago, but it wasn't quite the same. He heard his sister's voice again. _Jaaaack, Jaaaack!_ He ran to one end of the clearing but stopped abruptly when the light didn't follow him. If he followed the voice, he would be swallowed up by the pine forest. His mother's wails were heard and Jack's heart wrenched from listening. Tearing into the darkness, he ran for them blindly. He called out to them over and over and over and nothing was given in answer. Jack halted and turned around, deciding he was being stupid and would head back to the clearing.

But as he looked forward, there was a shiny black wall barely an inch from his nose. Jack whipped around on his heels and saw that he was enclosed in a small room, with black yet translucent walls mirroring him. Looking closer, Jack saw the boy staring back at him had brown hair and was wearing a lightly colored shirt with a brown vest and a cloak slung over his shoulders. Jack blinked, and the boy blinked back, the same lost expression on their faces. Suddenly, Jack peered down, but he was still wearing his same blue frosted sweatshirt.

"We're still the same," the reflection spoke, shattering the illusion of the mirror. "But you've forgotten, haven't you?"

"Where are they?" Jack demanded. "Where's my mother? Where's my sister?"

"You left them TO DIE!" the human version of Jack yelled. "They needed you!"

"I _saved_ my sister!" Jack insisted. "She was _safe_. I died so that she would live!"

"Did you not think about the others in the village? The ones that cared about you? What happened to them after you died?" the shadow instigated Jack.

Jack gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't answer. He couldn't remember something like that _after_ he died. He didn't even remember anything about them from before he died.

"And what about the fire?" Brown eyes flared in mischief at the distraught spirit.

"What fire?" Jack lunged after his reflection only to smack right into the wall painfully.

The apparition appeared on the opposite wall, a hurt look on his face. "You died before it engulfed your house. And your poor sister was inside..."

A landscape formed behind the figure, and Jack saw his house in flames. Their cries rang out and yellow eyes appeared in the woods off to the left. Jack swore that the faintest bit of red was glowing around the sinister look.

"Who was that?" Jack held his hands to the wall, watching the events unfold. The reflection said nothing and made the vision fade away. "Why..." Jack's voice trailed off, thick and heavy with an unfair guilt. "I saved her... I... I know I did..."

His human reflection kept his eyes downcast. "They had to die sometime, you know."

Jack spun around in frustration only to find himself in the clearing once again.

Screaming, Jack awoke on Cinder's bed, a pillow over his face. Tearing it away from him, it shot away and smacked heavily against the wall, frozen stiff. His staff was on the ground, lying carelessly over a heap of clothing. Jack got up and stumbled over to his staff with great effort. The nightmare wasn't fading easily, and his staff comforted him. Picking it up, however, Jack noticed that the staff was caught on a thick brown fabric. Not thinking anything of it, Jack leaned down and was about to discard the piece when he realized how heavy it was. Setting the staff down, he picked up the heavy brown piece of clothing. He gasped when he looked at it in full. It looked exactly like Jack's human cloak. Inspecting it carefully, he saw that a hood made of the same fabric had been sown on. It was a fairly large hood, and inside he saw a few hair fibers. Plucking one up, he held it to the light streaming in through the window. It was bright orange, and Jack smirked. Why would Cinder, of all people, have such a heavy piece of clothing? Surely she had no use for it. And yet, it looked just like the one that he discarded so long ago, or maybe something more recent...?

Then Jack realized that the sun's rays were lower than when he got to the house. He ran back to the bed and looked at the clock. It read 6:30am. Jack's jaw dropped. His nightmare had lasted throughout the night? It was hardly 4:30pm when Jack was shoved through North's portal into this house. How was that possible? And where was Cinder? Had she failed to rescue Jamie?

That's when Jack heard a loud, clattering noise that shook the house. Stunned, Jack dropped the cloak and ran out of the room. A second later he ran back in, grabbed his staff, and then ran back into the hallway. Jumping over the entire staircase, he hardly hit the ground before gliding right into the living room.

There on the ground was Cinder, holding Jamie so close Jack was afraid she had crushed him.

"Jamie!" Jack ran over to them and pulled Cinder's death grip off of Jamie with his staff. Leaning down, Jack hugged Jamie so tightly that he couldn't imagine letting go. "Jamie! Are you okay? What happened? Where's Pitch?"

"Jack..." Jamie's eyes were wide and sunken in, like he hadn't slept in days. "Jack... You're here. We've got to hurry... Pitch! And Cinder... Cinder! She's... Cinder's..."

"She─ she's what? Cinder's what?" Jack knelt down beside them. Looking down at Cinder's body, Jack realized what Jamie was trying to say.

Cinder lay motionless. Quick, shallow breaths were barely heard beyond her trembling lips. She was staring out to where Jack couldn't see. But what he could see was that one of Cinder's eyes was a bright, broken yellow. It was uninhibited by the iris and swirled around in the sclera, black specks passing in and out of visibility. The other eye remained the same green as before, but now it was glazed over with a stillness that sickened Jack.

Cinder was dying.

* * *

**A/N: Just to let you know, I'm a cliffhanger junkie and this will happen often in my chapters. Hehehe!**


	17. Free Will Fleeting

**Chapter 17 **\- _Free Will Fleeting_

* * *

An image filled Cinder's mind. It was a golden cylinder with brilliant mottled blues, purples, and greens dancing around like tiny diamonds on a cover that dipped into the top part. On the bottom circle, a face stared back at her. The eyebrows were straight and close together in an apologetic look. The eyes─ an intense jade green─ stared at her with a glint of sorrow. The copper hair that parted down the right side waved and curled in random patterns, securing the frame of her face in a soft orange glow. The lips were pulled to one corner in a small smirk; one that suggested insight, regret, and perhaps a spark of something else. Cinder knew instantly where to find it. Pitch told her so. She didn't question his sudden knowledge.

Cinder stole a pair of sunglasses from an unsuspecting store and made her way out of Burgess. Without comprehending her actions, she found herself flying high a moment later. Her head was swimming in a thousand different directions and none of them had a bright idea. It was like her senses had been heightened, but her mind had dulled. The wind beat at her shirt, the rims cutting into the sides of her arms. _Don't do this. You have no reason to. Don't do this._

What voice was that? Cinder scoffed and urged herself onward without knowing why.

Not fully in control of her flight path, her head bobbled from the gale's forces. The sunglasses were gluing themselves to the bridge of her nose, cutting into her forehead and giving her a dull throb. But they were necessary. Her eyes were still a dull, swirling yellow that looked at nothing in particular. Some part of her knew she was being controlled, but another part said that this was what she wanted. This was what she needed. Her teeth─ and her memories─ were so close.

Why else was she getting her teeth? The various reasons vied for her attention, but she shook them off lazily.

_Jamie... Sophie... Jack... Walker..._

Arriving at what she knew to be the Tooth Palace, Cinder landed on a small outcrop just outside one of the many large colorful platforms. Sitting with her back against rough rock, she let out a deep breath and waited for her vision to return to normal. She took off the sunglasses and peered into the lenses, trying to catch her reflection carefully. Were her eyes still yellow?

Seeing that they were, Cinder sighed and put the sunglasses back on, and then let her hands fall to her sides. If she was seen, she'd rather not let it be known to the world who she worked for. Yellow-eyed spirits generally didn't have good reputations (Sandy being an exception). She lifted her head up and tilted it back, staring into the sky with dull recognition flickering in her irises. She had been here before, but she couldn't remember why. Random memories floated in and out of her consciousness daily, how was she to know what was real? It didn't matter at this moment. She only needed one tooth case. Hers.

And where the hell was she going to find hers in the little time allotted her when it took Jack three hundred years to get his?

The idea of Jack invaded her thoughts, even through the tight control. She wondered where he was now, because surely the Guardians couldn't have been happy with him letting her escape. Then his words clattered in her head and she held her hand to her temples. For some reason, his honesty shook her consciousness, or whatever was left of it, and she nearly made it through the fog. _This was so much easier when I was drunk_.

Cinder stood up carefully and hopped onto the nearest tooth platform. Closing her eyes, she recalled the image of the golden case again. She mentally flipped it so that she could see the face. Cinder even swore that she could hear the teeth rattling inside. The sweet sound beckoned to her and a smirk spread into a smile on her face. A path was called forth, and when her eyes reopened, Cinder had an inkling of where to check.

But before she could jump down, an insanely fast string of squeaks and chirps hummed about her and she was forced to back up from the edge. Baby Tooth was in front of her now, incredulity written all over her tiny features.

"Baby Tooth!" Cinder was caught off guard. "It's nice to see you again! I'm sure you're upset about my absence as well, but I can assure you─"

Baby Tooth cut her off with another retort, shaking her tiny finger at the redhead.

Cinder sighed, knowing this was going to be difficult to explain. "Look, I need my teeth. Do you think you could dig 'em out for me?" Cinder flashed a grin.

Baby Tooth raised a miniscule eyebrow and muttered a few things. She then flew right into Cinder's face and peered into the sunglass lenses. She poked at it, making Cinder wince despite the fact that her eye was safe from Baby Tooth's little fingers. Then Baby Tooth gripped the side of the frame and tried to pull it off her face. Cinder shrunk away from the tiny fairy.

"Noooo, no, no, no," Cinder laughed nervously, "I'm in disguise."

Baby Tooth looked as if belief was beyond reach for her.

"I have an idea about how to confront Pitch, but I need my tooth case. I need my memories."

Baby Tooth still wouldn't have herself fooled. She chirped sharply, as if to ask "why?!" in desperation.

Cinder bit her lip, wishing that Pitch had better lies when she was under his control. In a muster of what little strength she had, she loosened his grip and began speaking what came to her mind.

"Baby Tooth, please," Cinder pouted, "this is for Jamie. He needs me. Pitch can't do anything with my teeth, but he doesn't know that. He'll think it's a fair trade. You know: the memories of the girl who escaped his Fear for the Last Light? I'm sure Jack told you about it." Cinder made sure her voice broke in certain places and that a tear escaped down her cheek for good measure.

Baby Tooth's expression softened and she hummed soothingly, wiping away Cinder's tear. Her squeaks became quieter, but she still shook her head. It didn't sound like a good plan. Cinder couldn't completely understand what Baby Tooth was trying to say, but she was sure she could guess.

"I can steal them back from him, if this works. If I can get Jamie out from under his watch, then I can grab the measly little case."

_And what if it doesn't?_ Baby Tooth's brows were practically knit together.

Cinder inhaled and shook her head. "It will work. It will. But I'm going to need your help, okay?" Cinder proceeded to describe the tooth case and where to find it.

Baby Tooth thought about it, and nodded slowly. It didn't sound like that was Cinder's case...

She was about to fly off when Cinder muttered "psst." Baby Tooth looked back questioningly.

"It'd be nice if you could grab it without Tooth noticing, okay?"

Baby Tooth rolled her eyes and flew off. Cinder hoped to whoever was looking down on this that Baby Tooth was acting on her word─ or, promise, rather. She didn't exactly use words, per se.

When Baby Tooth came back carrying a golden case far larger than she, Cinder's face grew exponentially happier. Then, in a sudden rush of mind control, her smile turned into a sneer and she snatched the case, knocking Baby Tooth away.

"Catch ya later, tiny fairy," Cinder's voice became multifaceted as she bowed. Falling downward, she called to the wind and flew off.

In Pitch's rush to get Cinder's teeth, he'd forgotten that he had been directly controlling Cinder's actions at that moment. Baby Tooth, recovering from her head hitting the side of the platform, was coherent enough to look over the side and see a wild redhead flying away in the distance. She rubbed her eyes to make sure, and when it was confirmed, she flew back into the palace to find Tooth. She needed to hear about this.

* * *

Cinder tucked her tooth case in a small cavern in a mountain close by, promising that she would return to by the end of the night. She walked out of it and flew off into the night, completing Pitch's last task. It was one of the grandest jobs she'd ever been given, and she wasn't about to let it go to waste. She hadn't set fire to anything in a few days, anyway. This would make up for that, the four lonely years, and more.

Flying high into the air so that she was little more than the size of starlight, Cinder allowed the fire to burst from within herself. Her being flared alight, casting out bright beams of fire. Using the sudden burst, she inhaled and brought all of the fire back into her curled arms. Gathering all of the heat, she felt the pressure build up inside her, contracting her muscles and pulling her face into a devilish grin. This was going to be fun. Cinder's neck twitched in excitement as more and more energy was being prepared. She could tell her yellow eyes were glowing brighter, casting off several beams into the early night. When enough power welled inside, she focused her entire mentality to the ground far below her feet. She could feel it rising, rising, rising. It was breaking through the crumbling rock and soil.

It reminded Cinder of the first few lessons that she had with Pitch. She had been starting to get the hang of feeling the constant heat in her body, and was up and about more often than not. Unfortunately, Pitch had only come back to the cabin at night, though only every few nights rather than every single one. The nights that he was there, he would bring her out and instruct her to do random mundane tasks. But they were harder than Cinder imagined because fire was more difficult to control than she thought.

One of the first tasks she had to do was fill a bucket with water from the nearby stream. After complaining that she could do more and that she wasn't some idiot, Cinder grabbed the bucket in haste from his arms and stomped down the hill. But before she reached the bottom, she had melted the handle to the bucket. Angrily, she walked back to Pitch and scowled, knowing he was snickering at her. He held out another bucket and made her try again. This time, she was able to get to the stream and fill the bucket. But every time she took the bucket out of the stream, the water evaporated and wafted through the air, mocking her. That had annoyed her after the third time, and she burned through the handle and the bottom of the buck. Infuriated, she ran back to Pitch and grabbed the next bucket he was already holding out for her. This went on for a few hours, Cinder never getting any closer to accomplishing the task. In her final attempt, she melted the entire bucket into a heaping pile of orange-hot mess and threw it into the ground. Then she focused her heat into the stream and dried it up instantaneously. The water and rocks and sky all disappeared. She was blind in anger and didn't know that anything else had happened.

Pitch showed up and asked what it was she was doing. When Cinder replied, she turned around and saw that her feet had scorched so much earth that she had made a giant hole, and her feet were wading in something. Angrily thinking that it was water that eluded her evaporation, she looked down and gasped. Not only had she burned downward, but she had brought magma _upward_. She was standing in _lava_, and _not burning_. Was that possible? Apparently so. Out of the corner of her eye, Cinder thought she saw black streaks flying around. But when she turned her attention toward them, they were gone. Returning her shocked expression upward, Cinder saw Pitch applauding her.

_I was going to teach you that after the basics of control, but you've done nicely. You'll be ready sooner than you think_, Pitch had said. Those words had made Cinder so happy. Pitch hardly ever gave out compliments, and this one was more than just a nod or a smile.

_Really?_ Cinder had honestly been in shock the entire time.

_I believe in you._

These words brought her back to the present time with a smirk. She was ready.

Flicking her arm out to the side, her fire's energy was released from the ground and the volcano erupted violently. Cinder's arm quivered from the immense output, but it held its place as she summoned yet more lava to burst forth and cascade down the mountainside. As it touched the pine trees, the smoke curled into the air and she threw the sunglasses away in a rush of ecstasy. Seeing that the trees were catching fire, Cinder flew down underneath the bare tree line and stopped just above the cascading disaster. She spread her fingertips and the flames willingly flickered toward her, circling around her arms and caressing her in a heated embrace.

Cinder no longer cared that this job was Pitch's idea. In that moment, it was hers and she owned it and she thoroughly enjoyed every living moment of it.

Granted, the lava was heading directly for the base of the Tooth Palace and the flames would only climb upward through the ranks. But that part Cinder could not care less about; that was Pitch's domain. Something caught in her throat suddenly, however, and before she could watch anymore of the events unfolding, she choked back tears and flew away, grabbing her tooth case in a blind haste.

When she was far enough away, Cinder let herself fall to the ground beside a small pond. Tumbling onto the grass, she waited for her eyes to stop stinging. Cinder rubbed her eyes vigorously in the vain attempt to regain sight. The smoke had had an effect on her once the panic had begun. Laying on the ground and staring up at the stars, she felt smaller than before. The sky was suddenly a thick blanket that was fluttering down on top of her, suffocating her. Her chest heaved with the perceived weight and the sound of the water became a giant wave that crashed into her rattled consciousness. Sobbing, she waited for the panic to subside. It wasn't the same kind of panic that Pitch used to call her. This was something else, and it was just something that she had to wait out. After a few antagonizing minutes, she checked her eyes in the water's reflection even though the panic hadn't left her.

They were green once again.

* * *

Finally reaching Pitch's old layer, she plummeted down the tunnel in a furious tumble. Rocks and roots were grazing her arms, legs, and her cheeks, pricking the skin and sending beads of blood to the surface. The whips and cracks around her sounded like they were inside her and all around her and her body was breaking down. Her panic wasn't settling─ and she had a feeling that Pitch knew.

Cinder fell to the ground with a sickening thud because she did not have any orientation nor form when the tunnel walls widened around her. If it weren't for the fact that she wasn't human, her ankle, pelvis, and spine would all be shattered, not to mention her head might have been split open.

As she slowly stood up, a dark chuckle resounded off the cavern and bounced at her from every direction. Coughing out the last of her dizzy spell, she simply looked over the vast space with a nonchalant look pasted to her face. She wasn't giving Pitch this small victory.

"Come on out, Pitch," Cinder tried to sound bored, "I did what you wanted me to, and I have what you want."

All sound was silenced.

"Pitch!" Cinder was starting to get annoyed. If Pitch tried to send her on _another _job, she was going to punch him. Not that it would do any good because he would just morph into the shadows, but perhaps she could get the jump on him. Her legs itched to form a fighting stance and she couldn't keep her fingers still at her side, but she forced herself to wait it out. Pitch had to show up.

But when the deafening silence continued for a few more minutes, Cinder was suddenly hyperaware of everything that surrounded her. Everything that she experienced was external and her mind was in little salient control. Setting her tooth case underneath some rocky alcove, Cinder walked along the bridge and onto one of the side passages, her hips absentmindedly bumping against the wall. She was focusing her entire being on her actions. Every step was a methodical tap on the hardened earth beneath her. Her arms swayed in the opposite way that her feet moved, proportional and exact. Ever breath was measured: inhale for four footfalls, nothing for two, and exhale for another four. Cinder could feel every cell in her body, and every consequence of her motions. The blood pounded in her ears despite her best efforts to remain calm and she stared at her feet as she made her way around various obstacles. Stalactites and stalagmites formed gruesome teeth that barred her way every so often, making her change course and start her version of meditation over again.

She was so focused that she nearly missed the whimpering sobs echoing above her. Vaguely alerted, Cinder looked around her. In the dim light, she recognized a dangling appendage from the floor above her. She reached up tentatively and poked it. _It_ happened to be an arm, and a small, surprised yelp was heard in response. Convinced on her hunch, she spoke softly.

"Jamie?" Cinder stuck her neck out over the chasm as far as she could. "Jamie, is that you?"

Scrambling, scuttling noises were heard momentarily, then nothing more.

"Jamie, it's me, Cinder," she held a hand up above her head in the hopes that he would see it, "Jamie, please─ answer me!" Her voice was becoming strained from trying to be loud enough to be heard by Jamie but quiet enough that Pitch wouldn't notice if he happened to be in the near vicinity.

Hearing a faint sound of recognition, Cinder hoped he would come into vision. When he didn't, Cinder sighed and squatted, aiming her jump. _I swear to whatever's out there, if Pitch mentally scarred this boy, I'm going to murder him. Murder him beyond death._ Releasing her energy, she jumped and tried to grab onto the platform. Her grasp slipped, however, and she was about to fall really, really far down. If worse came to worse, she could have flown, but she couldn't let Jamie see that. Cinder wanted to preserve the Jamie's assumption that she was human for as long as she could.

But then something clutched her wrist, yanking it almost out of socket. Cinder winced at the pain but looked up to see Jamie's hand wrapped around, his knuckles gleaming white. At first, Cinder was relieved, but then she saw his eyes. Jamie was hardly aware of anything, his eyes were glazed and distant, and his nails were digging into Cinder's skin. Taking the hint, she swung herself up onto the ledge, only to find that natural formations in the rock made bars in the side of the cavern, effectively putting Jamie inside a dismal cage.

"Jamie," Cinder breathed out at last, "Oh Jamie, you're okay!" Her shoulders dropped from her recent efforts.

"Cinder...?" Jamie was confused. "What are you doing here? Do you have any food? I haven't eaten in... I don't know how long." His voiced trudged lazily along, slurring.

"What did that damned guy do to you?" Cinder hissed, not pleased in the slightest. "Do you know where he is?"

Jamie looked down in abstract thought. "He said you worked for him..."

"No," Cinder answered too quickly, "no, no, no. I don't. He's a liar. You of all people would know that. Right? He tried to tear apart all of the children of the world, and _you_ stopped him. Don't tell me he got the best of you now!"

Jamie cleared his throat several times. "I don't really know what's been happening. It's so─" Jamie was seized by some invisible panic and Cinder could see his eyes widening in fear from some unknown stimulus. It tore at Cinder's heart before she could realize what effect it had on her to see this kid suffering. If what Jack had said about Sophie being kidnapped, instead of Jamie, been true... Cinder didn't want to think about it. Her chest became heavy, but she ignored it. Reaching through the bars, she grasped Jamie's hand tightly. He looked up at her suddenly and almost slapped her away when Cinder spoke again.

"It's frightening, I know," Cinder soothed Jamie, who had calmed down considerably, "please, don't try and remember it right now. I'm going to get you out of here. Pitch can't keep you here anymore."

Jamie recalled something immediately after the words left Cinder's mouth. "You took the job?"

Cinder was taken aback. "You know?"

"I remember Pitch telling you to retrieve something, and then you just... left..." Jamie's memory appeared to be failing him. "What was it he had you do?"

Not wanting to relay the information, Cinder was about to come up with a lie when she became forced against the bars, imprinting their crags on her light skin and drawing little beads of blood in places that were sharp. Her breath flew out of her lungs and Jamie ran up to her, uselessly trying to help. Cinder shook her head as best she could and made him back off. Cinder grabbed the bars with her hands and pushed herself away from them. Realizing what it was, she threw a cautious look at Jamie before leaping off the platform. Jamie called out to her, only to see that she landed just below and was now walking to the wider area that led to the bridge. But what Jamie couldn't see was the innate fear that spread through her limbs as surely as her fire did.

"Pitch!" Cinder called out. "I know that was you! Come out, you damn coward!" Her voice echoed and her anger began to well up inside, despite using her best efforts to keep the flames subdued.

"Ah, Cinder..." Pitch's spectral voice emanated behind her, "How lovely of you to return so soon! I trust that the mission went smoothly?"

Cinder turned around to see Pitch out and in her sight. "Yes, yes, it was fine. Here's the damn case," Cinder knelt down and pulled out the tooth case from its hiding spot and tossed it to him. Pitch caught it with a deft flick of the wrist and peered downward without moving his head, inspecting the case. Apparently satisfied, he tucked it into his robe. "You have what you want. Now let me have the damn boy."

"You certainly love that word, don't you?" Pitch avoided her request. "It's not very ladylike."

"Let Jamie go," Cinder stood her ground, "You said you would after I did this for you."

Pitch's unconcerned face smirked at her words. "Is it _completely_ burned?"

Cinder, knowing Pitch chose his words carefully, glanced furtively in Jamie's direction. She couldn't see his face, but she hoped with all her heart that he didn't think about the question's meaning too much. "I assure you, the job is done. They'll have been alerted any moment now."

"And tell me," Pitch continued, snapping his fingers and sending shadows to retrieve the frightened boy and bring him down to their level. When Jamie didn't comply, Pitch's shadows shoved the boy toward the bars and forced him to look at Cinder. "Why should I keep my word?"

"If you want me to keep work─" Cinder cut herself off, noticing Jamie's intent features locked on hers. "I did what you said, for the thousandth time. And you have my tooth case. What do you even need those for?"

Pitch's facial response made Cinder' stomach fall to the floor. Her shock was quickly replaced with fury. How could she have not seen she was falling into a trap? Cinder knew, somewhere deep down, that she had always been Pitch's tool and had accepted that as fact. But taking away Jamie was taking away her only freedom and choice in her long, unfortunate life. Taking care of Jamie and Sophie for only a few short days made her feel closer to human than she had ever felt. Perhaps that was her one fault, among many, that kept her subdued.

"Do I even get to look at them? My memories?" The thought hadn't occurred to her that she could have opened the case during her mission─ Pitch's control hadn't allowed that. "To know who I was?"

"I told you," Pitch took out the case and turned it around in his hand, "they've no value for you. Me, on the other hand..."

Cinder lashed out in a spurt of anger, ignoring Jamie's cries to stop. She launched herself toward her case and tried to land a hit on Pitch. But as she landed on her stronger foot, Pitch dissipated into the shadows, along with the case. Growling in frustration, she whipped around. Realizing now was the best time for escape, she ran over to Jamie's cell and jumped. Using the incredible surge of adrenaline, she shoved her shoulder into the cell. Knowing it wouldn't work, she discreetly lit a flame in her palm and scorched the smallest pillar. She repeated it several times until the free area was wide enough for Jamie to slip through. Cinder shot her arm through the hole and pulled him out. Holding his arm tightly, they hopped down and back onto the platform below. Jamie smiled at Cinder briefly, to which Cinder replied with her own before she realized it, and they sprinted toward the exit.

But all of a sudden, the exit disappeared. In its place was a thick wall of granite with no evidence that there was ever a hole to the world above. Swearing under her breath, she took out another portal globe she had stolen earlier and whispered into it. Handing it to Jamie, she told him to go through the portal and not look back.

"I'm not getting out of here without you!"

"Just do as I say! You have to get out of here, grab Sophie, and warn the Guardians!"

"You met them?" Jamie was shocked. She could see all of them? Not just Jack Frost?

"Yes, yes!" Cinder was increasingly impatient. "Now g─"

Before she could finish her sentence, she yelped in pain. An intense shock took over her system and she fell forward. Struggling to get up, a surreal amount of fear shook her fingers and shattered her chest like glass. Her breaths became ragged and shallow as she tried to force oxygen back into her body. Her mind was light-headed and pounding against her skull so loudly she thought her ears would burst. Cinder propped herself up, elbows quivering, and muttered something incoherent.

Cinder heard Jamie gasp. "Your eyes!"

Cinder began blinking furiously, trying to make sense of the panic. She swore Pitch was in front of her, grinning maniacally. Then he held the case above her. It was brighter than anything else in her vision, and she reached into the air, her hand going through the object. Gritting her teeth, Cinder yelled as more pain churned through her blood, turning it into an even-hotter-than-normal-feeling of liquid fire. She screamed profanity as her arms and legs began to lock up and spasm. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling with wide, blind eyes. The black ribbons were flying around again, and this time, Cinder saw eyes and small, spindly fingers. Then Pitch's face loomed over her, his yellow irises brighter than anything else. His hand reached down and covered her face. A fresh wave of fear nearly swallowed her, flooding her senses with nothingness. She was about to fall under his spell when Jamie's voice floated above everything.

"We've got to go!"

_How did he...?_

A picture of Jack superimposed a picture of an achingly familiar brown-haired boy in the moment of pure fear. Then both began to fall back into blackness, and even her competent memories were failing her. Her mind slowly filled with thoughts of fire and her skin itched and burned.

_Why is Jack...? _She tried to fight the control and keep Jack's face in focus, but it was getting harder and harder. She managed to keep it in focus until a hand appeared, cutting through Jack's face that began to swirl back into oblivion.

The hallucination subsided with a sharp _CRACK_ and then Jamie's hand moved in and then sincere warmth enveloped her and then her vision went white and then it went black and then...

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**A/N: Back to school again, but I'll try to keep updating as I have been. Unfortunately, I didn't get to write the end of the story while I was on vacation. Hopefully, I'll have some time in this semester to do that.**

**Oh, and I guess I should mention that there may be some elements from the books, although I haven't actually read them (Wiki's are great, right?). Accordingly, some properties of them may change either due to ignorance or simple story-telling. **

**Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	18. A New Role

**A/N: Hello lovelies! I just wanted to let you know (in case you haven't seen it yet) that I've posted a Pilot Chapter to a new story, called _Granting Asylum_, and I want to ask you guys to check it out! It has no connection to this story at all, but it's worth a look, I promise! _The Boy Who Cried Wolf! _will also be getting more one-shots added onto it, so keep an eye out if you're interested!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 18** \- _A New Role_

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Colors and lights flitted through a filtered ceiling. Small specks of noise sailed by perceptibly slow. Murmurs, then silence, then clicks, then silence, then words─ were they truly words? ─ and then more silence. Three kinds of questions floated in the blackness. The first kind dealt with consciousness. These questions were not articulated, but manifested through galvanic responses only sensed by the entity that possessed them. The intonation was felt as a rise of breath and the answers were felt as long, autonomous exhales. The second type of questions that surfaced concerned the present─ where and when which things were. Answers were seldom provided except in terms of what was immediately available through the senses. It was warm, but this was no different and thus no change was detected and no answer given. There was a weight above and below, the former tighter and the latter heavier. Both were encompassed around something central to these types of questions. Any information beyond this was indiscernible.

The third kind was more tangible: what, how, and why. With these questions, formal thought processes began to churn and coherent sensations were taken in the form of recognizable words. As these words leaned toward an inkling of understanding, Cinder's eyes fluttered open.

She looked around to gain a sense of position. Blankets covered her body up to her neckline, effectively shielding her scar and choking her. Lifting the thick materials, Cinder saw that her clothes were rough and singed, wrinkling against her skin uncomfortably. Jeans that had once reached her ankles were now faded and burned up to her thighs, asymmetrical in length. But her body looked relatively unharmed, and so she decided to sit up. Before she got halfway up, Cinder fell backwards from a sharp pain in her abdomen. Uncovering the blankets and lifting what was left of her shirt, she saw bandages wrapped around her midsection. Moaning quietly, she grabbed the thick blankets and huddled in them, missing their warmth.

Cinder's eyes flew wide open immediately. She shouldn't need these blankets at all. Her body had always acted like a capsule of fire. But without these blankets, she was getting a different feeling. It was similar to when she had touched Jack's hand, but duller in contact. Slowly peeling the blankets off, Cinder lay her hands at her side and waited. Her bare skin was in contact with the air around her. The air was relatively warm, which startled her even more now that she could see goose bumps prickling up her limbs.

Cinder was cold. Again. But this time, it wasn't just her arm.

Curling up into the blankets again, Cinder swung her feet over the side of the bed. This time, she looked at her other surroundings. It was a small room but it had high ceilings with wooden beams intersecting each other about seven feet above the floor. The room was relatively bare, although the wooden floors were covered in one area by a thick, red rug. There was a fireplace on the side of the room opposite the bed that was burning low. She ran over to the hearth, stumbling over folds of the blankets and trembling with weak knees. It felt like she hadn't used them in weeks. Cinder let her hands peek out of her blanket cocoon and stuck them close to the dying embers. Frustrated at the lack of heat, she shoved her hands into the coals, hoping to soak up the fire's energy. Instead, an immediate sensation gripped her hands and she yanked them out before she could think about what happened. She yelped and stared at her palms. They actually had burn marks that had scraped her fragile, pale skin. Tears were forming in her eyes.

Standing up, Cinder wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and walked over to the curtains on her left. These were also a vibrant red, but they also had white snowflake patterns around the edges and white frills at the bottom. She reached out a hand tentatively to the fabric, and found that it was a little cold at first, but warmed as she held it. Confused, she let her hand grab the other side of the fabric and found that they were two separate curtains. Opening the curtains, her jaw dropped.

Outside this room was pure white. The sky, the ground, everything was completely white and indistinguishable from each other. The realization hit her hard and her blankets fell to the ground. Shell-shocked, Cinder's tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Her powers were gone and she was at the North Pole.

But she had done what she promised the Guardians and rescued Jamie. _Why am I at the North Pole? Why did Pitch take my powers? Is this what it means to be off the contract? Am I still immortal?_ More questions flooded her system and she fell to the floor, amassed in the blankets haphazardly. Her entire existence felt erased, despite her physical presence being all too real.

After thinking about it awhile, however, she realized it must have been Pitch's plan. He agreed that Cinder pretending to be on the Guardians' side and getting information for Pitch was a great plan. But sooner or later they would have figured out she was actually a spirit. So Pitch must have taken her powers so that she couldn't be found out. Cinder's heart lightened at the idea, although she didn't like the side effects. Bringing one blanket─ thin and white─ around her shoulders, she stood up carefully.

_He still could have made the transition less painful,_ Cinder thought with a sneer as her weak knees buckled slightly. Grabbing the bed post, she shuffled her feet along the soft rug over to the only door in the room. She laid a small hand on the door, and then realized she probably looked horrible and needed a shower. Not seeing a mirror, she lifter her hand to her curling frizz that was called hair and tried to smooth it down. It didn't seem to work very well, so she huffed and decided she could ask─ what was his name? North? ─ where a shower was located.

Cinder was about to grab the doorknob when she heard soft voices on the other side. Curious, she held her ear to the door. Nothing could be heard beyond quiet murmurs. Opening the door quietly, Cinder peered out into a long hallway. The same red and white rugs ran down the length, and Cinder realized exactly where she was: outside the room with the Globe. Cinder tip-toed out of the room and shut the door slowly. Picking up the sides of her blanket, she trotted lightly to the large double doors and held her ear to these instead.

"When's Cinder going to wake up?" a small, deep voice muttered absently.

"Listen, you need to tell us what happened to you," a familiar spirit's voice placated. _Jack..._ "What did Pitch do?"

"Jack, we cannot expect answers so soon," a giant voice cut in. "Here, Jamie, have cookie."

"Where's Cinder?" the first voice said again. "When's Cinder going to wake up?" The repetition was void of anything but worry, and it made Cinder cringe with a heavy heart. Jamie was clinging to reality by anchoring to Cinder's health.

"We don't know, mate," an easily identifiable Australian accent soothed, "but I promise ya we'll let ya know when she does." Cinder was surprised to hear such kind words from the giant kangaroo.

"I can't just stand around here, North," Jack's voice sounded closer. Cinder backed away from the door toward the corner of the hallway, hoping that no one was leaving the room. "Pitch nearly killed her _and _he took her tooth case, if what Jamie said is true. Let me go and find him! If he destroys those teeth─"

"We cannot do anything, Jack!" North answered in a whisper, cutting Jack off. Cinder's attention piqued and she inched back toward the door again. "Pitch does not know we have reunited. If we go in on behalf of Cinder, she is linked. Pitch will go after her _and _Jamie. Maybe Sophie, too."

Cinder's eyes widened. _If Pitch even _dares _to lay a finger on Sophie..._

"Well we can't just let him think he can do whatever he wants!" Jack's irritated voice rose in volume.

There was silence for a long moment.

"Where's Cinder? Can I go see her?" Jamie's voice took advantage of the silence.

"In a minute, I promise," Jack spoke.

"Jack," North's voice whispered so quietly that Cinder had to lean her entire body against the door, hoping she had the power of invisibility so that she could listen from a closer distance, "we are not sure she can recover. Would not do good to let Jamie see Cinder in present state."

"Then let me go check on her," Jack offered, "Jamie needs to know something. Maybe it would let him open up."

"Do not forget, she is still under suspicion," North pointed out.

"But you felt for yourself that she wasn't even warm! I told you, there's no way she's the one that's been setting fires across the globe."

_So that's why Pitch took my powers away. I have nothing to worry about, then._ Cinder smirked knowingly.

"Would ya just admit ya have a crush on the sheila?" Bunny snickered.

"I do not!" Jack's indignant voice almost faltered. Cinder held her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. _I didn't know burning someone's arm was the way to their heart. So he's a masochist? Wouldn't be the first time I've met one..._

Then a brief, fleeting memory surfaced. The last thing she saw before waking up in the North Pole had been Jack... and some boy that looked like Jack. Maybe that was what Jack looked like when he was human? That boy looked familiar for a different reason though, Cinder just couldn't remember why.

It hit her a moment later: the brown-haired boy was the boy that drowned in her nightmare, over four years ago. Catching herself mid-gasp, Cinder clamped her hands over her mouth and fell backwards. All sound inside the Globe room stopped.

Fearful that someone had heard her, she wrestled with the white blanket to untangle her arms and legs and stumbled onto her feet. She ran down the hall and swung around the door frame, tripping on the blanket again and falling on the floor with a loud thump. The blanket landed on top of her, but it was also under her, around her, and in between her arms and legs in confusing twists. Frustrated with her incompetence to function normally, she let out an unattractive groan and promptly gave up.

"Cinder?" a voice somewhere above her startled her. "You're awake? Are you... Um, do you want some help?"

A muffled _hmph! _sounded from underneath the blankets. Cinder was glad about this predicament, however, because she could sense her cheeks were bright red─ the only form of heat she felt in her body at all.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Cinder could hear Jack's voice struggling. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I really should go let the others know you're okay."

"Wait!" Cinder yelled, throwing the fabric off her face as she sat up too quickly. She winced momentarily, but tried to hide it. Through her frizzy hair in front of her eyes, she saw she was at eye level with Jack's worn trousers. Slightly confused, she looked up and saw Jack's attempt at concern pasted over his comical smirk. It took all of her efforts to not cry out from her earlier realization. "What?"

"You look ridiculous," Jack laughed.

"Buzz off." Cinder had actually said something else, something more vulgar, in her mind.

Jack recomposed himself. "Are you sure you don't want any help? I can take you to see Jamie. Oh, but you'll want to wear this," Jack handed her an eye patch.

"You know," Cinder took the item in one blanket-covered hand and looked it over, "Pitch will probably see right through this disguise. No pun intended... probably."

"Funny," Jack said, suddenly serious. "You could've died, Cinder. You're lucky Jamie got you out of there before Pitch could do more damage."

_He did enough damage, trust me. _"Yeah, I mean, I feel less warm than usual, which is odd, but it was fairly scary so I guess that's a normal reaction. Right?"

Jack's brows furrowed. "You haven't seen your eyes yet, have you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Jack rubbed his fingers together in an active mental pursuit. Cinder had seen him do that before, when he had been coming up with an idea.

"Oh, _please_ don't make a game out of this," Cinder whined. "My head still really hurts."

"I'm not," Jack answered, "I just don't know where to find a mirror in this place..."

Apparently coming up with an idea, Jack sat down across from Cinder with his staff placed along his lap. She shivered and realized exactly how cold Jack Frost was. It was less than pleasant, for sure, and Cinder wished more than ever that she had her heat back. Holding out his hands, ice crystals began to form in the space above. Soon, Jack had made an oval shape that was fairly reflective and held it up to Cinder. Peering in it carefully, Cinder gasped as a grotesque figure stared back at her. This person had one green eye and one... circular, yellow mess. It actively swirled and made Cinder want to vomit. It didn't look where the other eye looked. It didn't register light like the other eye registered. It didn't do much of anything except freak her out.

"What happened to my eye?" Cinder choked out at last.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Jack said as he set the sheet of ice down on the floor next to them. "Or Jamie, but he won't stop asking about you. He's really worried, you know."

Cinder was alerted immediately. "Can I go see him? He must be worried. What time is it? I have to pick up Sophie from her friend's house at some point. Oh no, what if I'm late? What if their mother comes home and no one's there? What if─"

"Hey, hey," Jack giggled a little, "calm down. It's around noon back in Burgess. We were going to send Jamie back to go pick up Sophie after we got him up on his own two feet."

"His legs are broken?" Cinder's mind started jumping through extra, nonsensical loops. "And why would you send him back alone?"

"Did Pitch hit your head or something?" Jack lifted an eyebrow.

"No, but apparently he took out my midsection!"

"I actually didn't know about that one," Jack must have been lying, because he made a show of actually _looking_ at her now. When he saw the bandages peeking out from underneath her threadbare shirt, he cleared his throat and turned away.

Cinder pursed her lips. "Yeah well, neither did I. This is all pretty sudden for me, too."

Jack was about to say something when North walked in the doorway.

"Is good that you are awake, Cinder," his voice was heavyset. "Jamie would like to see you. I would put on eye patch."

Cinder tried to comply, but realized that she was still stuck in the blanket. Seeing her struggle, Jack offered his hand and worked at untangling the fabric as well. They had gotten most of it off when Jack's hand accidentally touched Cinder's arm trying to get the last blanket sleeve free. Both of them jumped backwards, expecting a shock of heat or a shock of ice or a shock of... anything. But nothing happened. Cinder stared at her arm and then to Jack. Jack did likewise. The air became still and thick for a few moments, creating unease.

"Ready to go?" North raised an eyebrow. He hadn't seen what happened, but Cinder had a feeling that she wasn't the only one feeling the tension.

They were about to walk down the hall when she stopped in the doorway. "Um, guys? Can I have a jacket or something? It's cold in here," Cinder added in a small voice.

"Cold? It's eighty degrees in─" North realized that Cinder was probably talking about Jack being so close. Jack seemed to pick on it and walk a wider distance from her. "Jack, give her sweatshirt."

"What? No way! I'm not giving her my sweatshirt!" Jack laughed nervously. "I love this thing!"

"How cute," Cinder said sarcastically with a fake smile, "but I think he meant something from down in the workshop."

"She be smarter than you, Frost," North laughed heartily. Cinder approved, but silently reminded herself that North was still suspicious of her. The rest of the Guardians probably were, too. Jack returned the fake smile to Cinder, who held back a giggle, and he walked down the hall ahead of them, looking like he was itching to fly away.

Now Cinder felt sort of bad for some reason. "Wait, Jack," Cinder walked back into the room and grabbed the thicker red blanket off the bed, wrapping it around her. Then she reluctantly grabbed the eye patch and appeared in the doorway again. "You don't have to go get it right away. I'll be fine for now."

"You sure?" North asked.

Cinder nodded shyly. What's wrong with her? Why was she being so sheepish? Did it make her look more suspicious? Swallowing her growing unease, she walked ahead with her head held up, but not too high. They were about to walk into the Globe room when something tapped her shoulder. Cinder jumped slightly, only to notice it was Jack's staff. Jack was standing as far away as he could to just barely poke her. He pointed to the eye patch and mumbled an apology for being so cold. Cinder laughed and shook her head. Looking down at the eye patch, Cinder groaned internally before strapping it around her head, pulling her bangs free from the string. She probably looked like a badly-costumed pirate. Jack's stifled laughter from her right told her that she was unfortunately correct.

But as soon as the doors were opened, Cinder forgot what she looked like. Jamie was sitting at a table to the left of the middle of the room, in front of the Globe. He was also covered by a blanket, but he seemed far worse. His eyes were sunken in and he was hardly aware of any surroundings at all, least of which the closest to him. Jamie looked forlornly in the direction of the doors, and Cinder's heart practically melted. It didn't matter what Cinder was in this world for, if it meant hurting Jamie or Sophie, she hated herself completely. She rushed into the room and fell at his feet, sobbing.

"Jamie! You're okay!" Cinder grabbed onto Jamie's hands and shook them, completely amazed that his temperature was like hers. "I promise I'll get Pitch back for this."

Jamie perked up at Cinder's appearance. "Cinder? What's that thing on your face? Is it because your eye hurts? You took quite a hit back there. I actually thought you were going to knock him out."

Cinder laughed. "I think we both know trying to punch that guy is pretty useless."

At that comment, Jamie brightened up and laughed as well. "You're definitely one of the cooler babysitters."

Cinder opened her mouth to correct him, but felt that it was unnecessary and closed it again. "Well, I don't know about that one. I mean you got kidnapped on my watch. You think I'm still getting paid after this stint?"

"I figure if mom sees both kids in one piece─"

"─more or less─" Cinder added in.

"─then she isn't going to mind." He laughed. His eyes lit up the more he talked.

"He's talkin' more to her than any of us. Even you, Jack," Cinder heard Bunny's voice, far behind them and barely above a whisper.

"I was giving him time!" Jack interjected a little louder.

Cinder heard tiny, ethereal bells becoming a little louder and she turned her head. Seeing the Sandman, she smiled to him warmly. He made a golden top hat and tipped it to her in greeting. Putting his hand on her shoulder, he gestured to Jamie and used various pictorials to tell her that he had kept both of them asleep so that they could recover as best as he could manage. Cinder thanked him profusely, saying that it helped a lot for her. Sandy nodded, but then looked to Jamie. He smiled, knowing Jamie was getting better, but Sandy signaled to Cinder that Jamie had started having nightmares several times over. Cinder's features worsened, wondering what in the world Pitch did to the poor boy. Sandy patted her shoulders, and shook his head sadly.

"I better get him home, then? I'll let you know tonight when you go on your rounds how he's doing," Cinder stood, but the Sandman looked at her worriedly. Something in his eyes told her that they weren't supposed to leave yet. Cinder furrowed her brows and then looked to the other Guardians.

That's when a memory came back: she had burned Tooth's palace. The beautiful fairy must be furious. Well, maybe that was an understatement. But that was hours ago, wasn't it? Analyzing the row of Guardians, Cinder deadpanned when she realized Tooth wasn't present.

"Hey, guys? Where's the Tooth Fairy?"

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**A/N: I may have forgotten to mention this a few times (I'm really bad at checking it), but thanks for all the reviews/favs/follows so far! It makes me happy to see that I'm doing something people really like. Hopefully more to come? o:**


	19. As Clear As Mud

**A/N: Hello lovelies! There's some unfortunate news. Since I've still only written up to Chapter 25, and the story still isn't complete, and I haven't been editing these chapters, I'll have to cut back on my updating frequencies. :( I guess I'll be uploading every Tuesday until I can get the rest of it written (I shouldn't have much work until it becomes closer to finals week, which for me is in early May). But don't worry, the entire story will be written and published on time! I'll make sure I kick my butt into gear soon enough.**

**Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 19 **\- _As Clear as Mud_

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Cinder's question hung unanswered in the giant hall. Jack began to sweat, knowing all too well what the other Guardians weren't willing to say. Tooth hadn't come back to the North Pole, even after North activated the Lights when Jack and Jamie showed up through a portal with a barely-conscious redhead. At first, they all thought that she had been too busy with her teeth. But Jack was beginning to think that a lot more was wrong. It had been hours and no one had heard from the queen fairy. Drumming his staff nervously, he gestured for North to offer a response.

North cleared his throat. "She's probably collecting de teeth," he began, "too busy for current situation." If she was doing anything right now, Jack didn't believe she was collecting teeth. Was North really _this_ bad at lying?

Cinder stood up, clearly offended. "Too busy? Too busy! Pitch is unraveling his plan by the minute and she's worried about organizing _teeth_?"

"If she doesn't take care of the teeth, she won't be believed in," Bunny hopped up to her, taking offense in place of Tooth, "and that's how Pitch got to us last time. Think before you spit the dummy."

"Excuse me? Does this kangaroo ever make any sense?" Cinder sidestepped Bunny and asked in the direction of North, Sandy, and Jack. Jack was the only one who laughed.

"As much sense as him actually being a really tall bunny-rabbit," Jack pointed out and flew upward out of Bunny's reach when he went to probably strangle Jack's throat. "What? I said you were a rabbit that time!"

"Bloody show pony," Bunny cursed.

"How many animals do you claim to be, exactly?" Cinder flicked her hand outward in a demeaning fashion, snickering quietly. Jack smirked. He thought this Cinder was much more fun.

Then Sandy ruined the fun by grabbing an elf and ringing the bell on its hat. He then pointed upward toward the ceiling. The moon was unnaturally bright, its rays struggling against the pane of glass.

"Ah! Man in Moon! He's finally speaking!"

"What?" Cinder and Jack interjected simultaneously. Surprised, they stared at each other a moment. Were they both surprised by the same thing? In the same way? If that were the case... was she a spirit?

"Is this how he talks to you guys?" Jack asked North, thankful to look away from the green glare that was surely still resting on him.

"Oh, forgot you were not here first time," North apologized, "of course, it was when you were chosen."

That made more sense. But what did the moon have to say? What was so important that he demanded conversation? Was it about Tooth? Jack's eyes grew wide as he anxiously waited for some kind of auditory instruction. He would finally speak to them, maybe even to Jack!

The beams danced against the window pane, and Jack saw North nodding carefully. Conflicted, Jack was debating speaking up. Then something nearly tangible stopped in front of him and whispered delicately in his ears.

_Beware the eye of the storm, Jack Frost._

Jack made an incredulous noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a gasp. "Did _anybody_ hear that?" He was amazed that such a calming voice could be heard so clearly, despite not having heard it in three hundred years.

"Manny speaks to one person at time," North explained, "and only to whom he chooses. You heard him, Jack?"

Jack's features lit up. Then he thought about the actual words themselves and his countenance fell once more. "I─ I did. But it wasn't good."

"What was it, Jack?" North asked urgently.

Before Jack could answer, there was a heavy smack against the windows in the ceiling. Everybody peered upward to find a frantic Tooth battering against the window. She was yelling something toward them, but no one could understand her. Jack flew up with his staff and opened the latch. Tooth flew through without so much as a thank you, which was odd. She dived straight for North and the other Guardians, stopping momentarily when she saw Cinder. Tooth sized her up carefully, and when nothing physically resulted, she turned back to the others, spewing out a load of nonsensical words and hysterics.

"My teeth─! The teeth─ they're─ someone─ fire everywhere! And─ and we─ the fairies and I─ tried─ tried to save─ oh the teeth! I think we─ I think some are gone─ forever! Oh, Jack!" Tooth spun around incessantly, stopping on Jack and grabbing his shoulders more for support from her dizziness. "Jack, the teeth! The─ the fire─ the Tooth Palace─"

"Hey, hey!" Jack put his arms on her waist. It was meant as a calming gesture and Tooth took it well. Out of the corner of Jack's eye, he saw a certain redhead laughing behind muffled fingers. Jack didn't know why, so he figured it could wait until later. "Slow down! What happened, Tooth?"

Tooth began to speak in the same hectic manner and Jack held his fingers to her face. "Breathe," Jack instructed.

After taking one long breath, Tooth's words still came out in a blur, but at least they were understandable this time. "I was looking through the teeth and Baby Tooth came up to me to tell me something but then I smelled the fire and I looked down and there was lava, Jack, there was lava all over the bottom of the Palace and there were teeth and they started to burn and I tried to save them all, Jack, but there were so many and all of my fairies were having a hard time through the smoke and─"

"Well don't get off your bike, Tooth," Bunny hopped over and held her back steady. "Why didn't you call for help?"

"If I stopped grabbing the teeth, there would be none left to save. The memories would have been released and none of the children would remember..." Tooth's voice trailed off.

Jack didn't need to hear the rest of Tooth's sentence. He knew exactly what releasing memories meant. What if his had been burned? What if this had happened before he knew about his past? The threat of nothingness closed in on him again and fear spiked in his mind. Jack would have wandered the Earth forever, eternally unseen. He might have even taken sides with Pitch... No. He couldn't let himself think that way. With all his willpower, Jack insisted that he would never─ could never─ do that to the Guardians, or the children. Jack turned his face toward Jamie, still sitting in the chair that they had brought him to when he and Cinder crashed through the hall. Cinder was standing defensively next to Jamie. She looked fierce and apprehensive, despite only having one eye at the moment. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that Cinder wanted to protect the Bennett children as much as he did. But did she want to save all children of the world? Cinder's attitude left that up for debate.

"Cinder," Jack started, letting go of Tooth's embrace. He heard her subtle, sad sigh behind him. "You've got to take Jamie home."

"Jack!" North burst in. "We cannot leave either of them alone! It's─ too dangerous." _Nice save, big guy,_ Jack rolled his eyes secretively.

"We need to deal with the fire at the Tooth Palace first," Jack explained. "This is about all the children. Cinder and Jamie are the least of our worries."

"Hey!" Cinder spoke up indignantly, and Jack thought she was about to argue. "If I'm going back to Burgess, you've got to promise to keep me informed about what's going on."

"An' why should we tell you?" Bunny pointed at her.

Cinder bit her lip and looked to each of the Guardians in turn. Her eye settled at last on Jack. Looking at the eye patch physically hurt Jack. She went through Man-in-the-Moon knows what to rescue Jamie and lost use of one of her eyes in the process, as well as her apparent inner heat. Jack had noticed it when he went to go and check up on her. He couldn't sense the overwhelming heat from down the hall, so he had figured it was because she was asleep and sick. But when he found her awake, he couldn't detect any heat at all. And touching her arm... there was nothing. No intense burns, no arm icicles, nothing. Well, maybe there was something, but not anything painful. Looking at that yellow eye made Jack sick. He should have gone with her, shouldn't have let her go after Pitch on her own, and he should have saved her. But he didn't, and he had to deal with the consequences. In every facet, Jack believed it was his fault.

"I just want to help," Cinder's voice was barely above a whisper, "Pitch can't get away with what he did to Jamie. If he's behind Tooth's problem as well, his plan is surely well under way. And he wasn't done with his plans for Jamie, that's for sure. I want to know as much as I can to keep these kids safe."

"W-we can't do that!" Jack spat out before he thought it through. "As a human, you're powerless against him! We can't put you in danger like that again." He created this on the spot, hoping that if she was human, she would admit it and if she wasn't that she would overlook it. But perhaps she was smarter than that.

Cinder looked like she was about to abject, but she stopped herself. "It doesn't matter. I want to help. Let me help, damn it!"

Tooth let out a gasp. "Such a sailor mouth!"

Cinder clapped her hands once in sarcastic finality. "Alright, fine. I wasn't just dying a few hours ago or anything trying to save the Last Light. Because he _clearly _has nothing to do with Pitch's plan. Pitch _obviously_ just likes torturing teenage boys! I'd watch out if I were you," Cinder fake-whispered the last sentence to Jack.

"Cinder─" Jack began to reconcile.

"No!" Cinder backed away and gently held onto Jamie's shoulder. "Come on, Jamie, let's take you home. The Guardians can deal with Pitch and the teeth. They did it before, _right_?" _Why is she being so defensive and self-centered? _Cinder helped Jamie up and took a globe portal off the counter, then grabbed two more. Jack heard her whisper the destination in mind and she let the globe fall. North was fuming, but tried not to let it show. Sandy had a "well, that's awkward" look stretched across his face and twiddled his fingers. Bunny tried to hop after them but it was too late: they had already gone through the portal.

After a minute of stunned silence, North exhaled loudly. "Jack, you know what to do."

Reluctantly, Jack was about to comply when Tooth flew in front of him, stopping him from flying away with his staff. "Wait! Jack can't go! I need him to help with the palace. It's still on fire, you know. We don't have much time!"

"Why are you guys bossing me around?" Jack flicked his staff away from Tooth's grasp, talking with a harsher tone than he'd realized.

"You'll help me save the teeth, won't you, Jack?" the queen fairy's face pouted and her eyes glistened with hurt. Jack wanted to go back and talk to Cinder, tell her he was sorry and that this situation is out of her control, and to protect Jamie. But Jamie was safe for the moment─ as was Cinder, sort of─ and in no immediate danger. The teeth, however... Some special obligation tugged at his chest.

"Let's go," Jack tossed a globe up in the air and shouted, "Tooth Palace!" When the portal opened, both of them flew through and abruptly disappeared.

* * *

The scene before Jack mortified him. Tooth must be crushed. It was truly a wonder that she had any time to fly all the way to the North Pole. Trees─ or what was left of them─ burned and reeked of pine resin. Anything that wasn't burning was melting with a sickening, squelching, crackling sort of noise. Thousands of blue, green, and purple specks flitted around the area, and Jack heard tiny, frantic chirps everywhere. Baby Tooth instantly flew up to where Jack and Tooth were hovering. She relayed all information over to Tooth and she seemed more relieved than upset.

"Oh, thank goodness," Tooth let out a deep breath. "Good work, ladies!" she shouted out below her. A cascade of responses chirped and squeaked back.

"The teeth are alright?"

"Well, there's one case that's missing," Tooth shrugged, "but considering the damage that could have been done..."

Jack furrowed his brows. "Do you know whose case it was?"

"Oh, I'd have to check what teeth I do have," Tooth turned to him, "and that could take awhile. We should really focus on getting rid of this nasty lava."

Jack was about to object and question the fairy queen sooner, but he thought better of it and set to work. He flew into the Tooth Palace and was instantly feeling a fever taking over his body. The unbearable humidity him recoil before defensively shooting ice out from his staff. The little amount of magic that he had used did little to the lava below, but it had helped a tree that had been burning just a moment before. With this knowledge, Jack went around the palace and froze anything that was on fire─ mainly trees─ and proceeded to skate around on the rivers, preserving what was left of the precious, pure water. When he tried to rid the place of the lava by hardening it, Jack found that much more power was needed. Conjuring as much willpower as he could muster, he aimed his intentions at the intensive crawling form of death. As he was about to release the energy, his thoughts returned to Cinder. Something about the way that she left the Workshop did not settle well, and Jack felt he had to apologize to her, or find answers from her─ one of the two. Instead of losing his initial power, it became infused with his frustrations at Cinder and the Guardians and he pushed the immense ice shock outward. The electric, haphazard pillars of ice flew out from his palms and staff and surged through the ranks of lava particles, hardening each one in turn. Jack did this several more times before collapsing on a nearby hanging Tooth platform, his being sapped of virtually all energy.

Tooth showed up a few minutes later, still as outwardly cheerful and emotional as ever. The look was one that gave Jack a little relief. It was a reprieve from all that was unexplainable in these past few days. Her feathers were ruffled, sure, but they were tousled in a pattern that made Jack smirk. Tooth was beautiful, he couldn't deny that. And she took care of him when others couldn't have cared less. Looking at her now, he was glad that Tooth had kept his teeth safe for him. Without her, Jack would never have found out who he was. He would have wandered, never to be seen, forever. His gratitude for her only deepened.

"Since you're resting," Tooth noted, "that means the lava is gone, right?"

"Well," Jack shrugged, "it's not as pretty a place as it used to be, but now the trees won't die," he pointed to the collection of frozen trees and shrubbery and laughed.

"Oh, Jack!" Tooth crooned. "I love it!" She stared at Jack's handiwork for a long moment, the slightest smile spreading on her lightened features.

"So, Tooth?"

"Hmm?" Tooth looked back at Jack suddenly, as if she had forgotten he was there.

Jack wasn't sure if his next question would come off as selfish. "Was my case alright?"

"Of course it was, Jack," Tooth laughed, suddenly looking very nervous, "but you already have your memories, so it really wouldn't matter if it was burned."

Jack nodded absently. "So that thing that happened at the village a few days ago─ those weren't my memories?"

Tooth bit her lip. Jack knew she couldn't lie to him, not for long. "Oh, Jack! I didn't want to tell you, but there's something you should know about your case."

Jack sat up now, curious about what she had to say. Admittedly, he wasn't expecting Tooth to have actually lied to him. "What is it?"

"Well, you see, the funny thing is," Tooth was fidgeting, "there may, or may not, have been a tooth missing from your case..."

Realization dawned on Jack. "So that's why you were prodding your fingers in my mouth when I went to check my case!"

"Well, yes, sorry," Tooth giggled in an attempt to lighten the situation. When Jack looked at her with a small amount of hurt in his features, Tooth sighed. "I didn't know what to do... I didn't want you to know, Jack! You didn't need any memories from that tooth to figure out your Center, so I didn't think it was important. I thought, maybe, that it had been a mistake. But I searched all around your time's teeth collections and I couldn't find an extra tooth anywhere! That was when the fire started." She gasped as if a thought had popped up in her mind. "Oh, Jack! What if someone stole the case that had your tooth in it?"

Jack's brows knit in confusion. "Who would know about any of that? I wasn't even sure what happened to me were _memories_! Unless..."

"Unless?" Tooth repeated, unsure of where Jack was going.

"Pitch was the one who gave me my case. Could he have switched a tooth?"

"But what reason would he have to do that?"

"I don't know!" Jack's hands flew up in ardent defeat. "May be he had a different plan for me, until we defeated him so he couldn't act on it. Now that he's back..."

"Jack," Tooth hugged the winter spirit without warning. Jack recoiled at first, but sunk into the hug as he would if his life depended on it. Tooth's feathers were a comfort that he couldn't afford to pass up. The gentle way that Tooth was able to calm him down was amazingly effective, and Jack found himself spreading a little smile on his face. "It'll be okay. We've taken him down once before, we can take him down again!"

Jack nodded, faintly reassured. Tooth's weak smile still had an effect on him. "Well, if all's well here, I'm going to head back to Burgess and talk to Cinder─"

"Wait, Jack," Tooth flew in front of him, cutting him off from departure, "I don't think you should do that."

"What? Why?" Jack saw that Tooth's demeanor had changed. "She deserves to know something."

"Do you remember how I said that she wasn't in my records for her age?"

Jack nodded, unsure of Tooth's direction.

"Well, the thing is, she's still familiar to me. I feel like I've collected her teeth before─ or one of my fairies did. She has all of her adult teeth and the molds of her gums─"

"Too much, Tooth," Jack put his hands by his ears without quite covering them. Talking about blood and gums never lost its unexpected grotesqueness.

"Sorry," Tooth blushed, then continued. "It's just, she was too familiar and I just got this feeling, you know?"

"Was it in belly?" Jack badly impersonated North's voice and patted his stomach.

Tooth's laugh ended in an adorable squeak. "I feel it in my belly!" She imitated with the same amount of finesse as Jack had done. Jack shook his head and laughed at her. Clearing her features, Tooth reverted to seriousness. "But really, Jack, there's something about that girl. I don't think you should be giving her any information regarding Pitch."

"But what if he goes after her and Jamie again? He hardly missed the first time she ran into him. If she runs into him again, who knows what additional damage he'll do?"

"Was that what the eye patch was for?" Tooth looked surprised.

"Something happened─ and I guess his shadows lashed out─ or something─" Jack stopped himself. He wasn't actually sure what happened: another thing he'd have to talk to her about, considering he was still intent on speaking with her. If Jack could repair any amount of damage between them, he wanted to do it as soon as possible. "What matters is that her iris turned a sickly yellow and─ broke? It swirls like it's alive but it doesn't seem like she can see out of it. It's pretty gross."

Tooth's features worsened. "Were there black specks floating around in her eye?"

"What?" Jack blinked in confusion. What did her _eye_ matter to the Tooth Fairy? _Beware the eye of the storm, Jack Frost,_ Man in the Moon's voice echoed in his skull, as clear as when he first heard it, but muddled and hollow in tandem.

"Jack," Tooth grabbed Jack's shoulders with a strength he didn't know she had, "you cannot go back to Burgess. If you must talk to Jamie, do that at night. _Do not_ talk to her, _especially_ about Pitch. She probably already knows..."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's infested with fearlings, Jack!" Her very sentence gave Tooth shivers that disheveled her feathers.

"And what are those?"

"Fearlings, Jack," Tooth began, "are the very things that made Pitch Black who he is. They took over his body and mind... and they're going to take over Cinder's as well, if they haven't already."

"That─ that's insane!" Jack objected. "She's just hiding from─ She told me she─" But Jack couldn't say anything. He suddenly didn't know how.

"Did she speak to you about this before?"

Jack let out a breath. "I caught her before she left to rescue Jamie. I asked her what her plan was, and she said that Pitch wanted her above Jamie. She's apparently some mistake of his."

Tooth's eyes darted around Jack's face, searching for something. For what, Jack had no idea. He didn't know if this put Cinder under more suspicion or if it cleared her of others. Jack hoped for the latter.

"Jack, if that's the case, Cinder's in deep trouble, if she isn't done for already." That didn't sound good.

"Well, then I have to go find her and bring her back to the Pole. We can protect her."

"But she has to take care of the Bennett children, remember?" Tooth pointed out. "Besides, Jack, you don't want to frighten her, do you?"

Jack scoffed. "If anything she's the frightening one. But Tooth, Cinder's weak. Whatever Pitch did, he clearly didn't finish and I can't let him try."

"Why do you care so much, Jack? His bigger plans could bring all of us down, and the children would be consumed with fear again!"

Jack fumed. "You wouldn't understand! I was alone for three hundred years with no one to talk to! Suddenly there's a girl, _my age,_ who can see me. Even if she is a spirit like the rest of you seem to think, why can't I just have this one thing? She could be my _friend_ who wouldn't grow old and die like the rest of them will!"

That's when Jack knew he had said too much. He spat out words without considering their meaning, and it shook him to realize what he'd spoken. Tooth backed away from him slowly, as if any sudden movement would push him off the edge. Jack didn't think he was being unreasonable. He wanted someone to stay with him, but he failed to recognize that the other Guardians fit the description. He was shunning them because Cinder became someone he wanted to befriend without thinking about the future. In doing so, the other immortals by his side were about to be cast away. And he had just gotten used to having a family again! Jack was immediately consumed with a remorse that clung to his chest.

"Tooth," Jack began to apologize, "Tooth, I didn't mean that. You─ and the others─ will always be here, I know that! It's just─"

"It's fine," Tooth said curtly, and Jack knew his mistake was all too real. "But she may not be who you want her to be," she placated, still quietly angry. "I'm just trying to protect you."

Jack swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Then something came to his attention. "What if I brought you Cinder's tooth case?"

Tooth's wings flapped a little faster. "What are you saying, Jack?"

"Jamie said that Pitch took her tooth case," Jack jumped up excitedly, knowing that he was on to something important, "so what if I brought it to you─ and you looked in her memories?"

"Jack! That's horribly rude─" Tooth shook her head vigorously and stared at Jack "─Pitch has her case? How did he get that?"

Jack opened his mouth, then his jaw dropped and left it open. _How did Pitch get her tooth case? _There had never really been time to question either Jamie or Cinder after she woke up, so the question never got answered.

"Cinder must have come here to find it, somehow, but that means─"

"─she must have been here before the explosion and the lava!" Tooth burst in with the realization that Jack hadn't wanted to vocalize. Too much information was flying into his brain at too high a speed. It made him dizzy and he sat himself back down, leaning on his staff the entire way.

"Don't you see, Jack?" Tooth pushed. "Cinder's the fire spirit that burned all of those towns. She came here to steal her tooth case─ and whatever else about her past she wanted to hide─ and tried to burn the children's teeth so that Pitch would have an open opportunity!"

"That's a bit of a jump, Tooth─" Jack stood up defensively.

"After Pitch took the case, he must have sealed her powers!"

Jack sighed and thought for a moment. "But then how do the fearlings come into play?"

Tooth stepped back and took time to think. She looked around her now seemingly empty palace and tried to glean information from their colorful walls. Something in her search made the pit in Jack's stomach deepen. Cinder's sunset orange hair wavered fitfully just outside his peripheral vision. The bluish-green ring she wore was shining beneath a cloak he knew he'd never seen her wear. But it could just be the fearlings, right? There's a Cinder who loves and protects Jamie and Sophie, so surely that isn't the work of these fearlings... Tooth's soft voice began slowly, tearing Jack away from his thoughts.

"Well, Pitch either put them in her to close away in her power or─"

"Or?" Jack instantly wished that he hadn't asked for the other plausible reason. He was better off not knowing, or so he wanted desperately to believe.

"They've been inside her for a long, long time."

* * *

**A/N: Um GUYS? Aren't you two forgetting something?! Something important?! Ugh. Sometimes being centuries-old doesn't improve one's intellectual skills; being an eternal teenager must be rough. Can you guys figure it out or am I just thinking the plot is obvious because I'm the one who wrote it?**


	20. Orange Juice

**A/N: This once-a-week thing is killing me... but I honestly don't have a whole lot of time. I didn't even really edit this chapter, so sorry if there are any mistakes!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 20** \- _Orange Juice_

* * *

As soon as Cinder and Jamie were back in his living room, she led him to the couch and set an extra blanket over him. The events of the past twenty-four hours had worn her down, but it made things much clearer. The Guardians obviously didn't care about what happened to Jamie. They were hardly doing a thing about Pitch, which was surprising seeing as they were able to take care of him last time. Even then, Pitch had been alone─ that had been her fault, she remembered it well. But with Cinder at his side, did these guys even really stand a chance? Nonetheless, Cinder didn't really care about the outcome. She just wanted to be out of the contract Pitch had put her in. Three hundred years. That was supposed to be it. Cinder kept reminding herself of these intentions whenever her mind became fogged.

But she hadn't expected to care so much about these two kids. Jamie was a teenager─ hardly far off from her respective age─ and they had barely talked to each other. And yet, something clicked anyway. Not as fast as it had been with Sophie, of course, but it counted. Sophie was sucked right to Cinder, it seemed. She was reminded of Rebecca less and less because Sophie slowly took over the form. Rebecca was now Sophie, and that scared Cinder. If Pitch knew of Sophie's attachment, there was no doubt in Cinder's mind that he would have gone after her.

Cinder was silently relieved that it had been Jamie. He was probably old enough that whatever Pitch did wouldn't last, although it was still just as mentally scarring. Even now, he looked a little better. Disinterested eyes were becoming more receptive and he talked more as time went on. Cinder sat with him awhile and they discussed what had occurred. Pitch locked him up, but he didn't torture Jamie. That was a surprise to Cinder, although admittedly she had no clue what Pitch would do. Cinder didn't think she counted as a fair example. But the middle details were harder for Jamie to convey. There was nothing physically wrong, but he couldn't think back to the events without slipping into an anxious panic. Cinder was able to soothe him back into a relative calm and decided not to prod further. Instead, she had gone into the kitchen and made him a hot chocolate. When she brought it back into the living room, she was happy to see that Jamie was sitting upright and had the blankets around him rather than on his shoulders.

After going upstairs to get changed, Cinder came back down and sat in a chair across from Jamie to give him space. They sat together in silence. But this silence had several layers. The first layer that blossomed around them evoked the scent of false security. The temporary smiles and courteous nods every time their eyes met were merely distractions and pitiful reassurances. The truth of their silences hid underneath the blossoms in the dirt below. The grit and clumps of this steady layer choked them both, preventing any words from being spoken. This was the silence of understanding. They both knew Pitch was not finished. The attempt on the teeth was evidence of that much. Whether or not he succeeded, Cinder couldn't tell if it mattered. Pitch never told her anything. Did that surprise her? No.

Interrupting her thoughts, a knock sounded from the front of the house. Jamie tensed up subconsciously. Cinder held up a hand to him to let him know everything was fine. She walked over to the front door and took a deep breath. When she opened it, a girl with long, light brown hair tucked in a braid stood with a pile of books in her hands.

"Hello?" Cinder figured she knew who it was.

"Uh, hi," she probably wasn't used to an older girl living in the house, let alone a girl wearing an eye patch, "is Jamie home? He was supposed to hang out last night and no one heard from him. I thought I'd, uh, help him with his schoolwork and see if he was alright. Oh, I'm Pippa," the girl added at last, struggling to shift the weight of the books to one hand so that she could shake Cinder's.

Cinder waved the gesture off without trying to be rude. "That's fine. He's right inside. You can come in," Cinder stepped to the side and held the door open for her. As Pippa was settling her stuff in the kitchen, Cinder ran into the living room.

"Pippa's here," Cinder whispered quickly, "she said you were supposed to hang out last night? I told her she could come in. Are you okay to talk to her?"

Jamie's face didn't seem to register Cinder's warning for a moment, but then he nodded. "I'll be fine. Don't you have to go pick up Sophie, anyway?"

"Damn it!" Cinder swore. "Yeah, I'll go do that. You'll be okay here alone?"

"It's Pippa," Jamie laughed, "I think I can fend her off better than Pitch."

Cinder shook her head. He was clearly well enough to joke. "Alright. Just warning you: she might have brought homework over."

"Yeah, that's Pippa."

Cinder sighed in relief. "See you, then!"

Cinder was about to walk out the door when Pippa's voice called out to her. "You've got messages on the machine!"

The redhead berated herself. Of course, the night that no one was home was the night that their mother called. Who else would really call? Perhaps one was from Jamie's friends? Either way, at least _one _of those messages was from Mrs. Bennett. Cinder dreaded the verbal accost she was sure to get from her employer in a few days. The thought that she might leave this family put an unexpected weight in her gut, but she ignored it. "I'll check them when I get back!" Cinder answered as she walked out the door.

It was a few steps out that she realized she had forgotten her jacket. Shoes she had remembered, but not her jacket. At first, it didn't bother her because she had been so accustomed to her own heat. However, that internal heat was gone and Cinder found herself shivering and inhaling painfully sharp breaths that pierced her lungs with each foot she placed in front of the other. Not wanting another second of this dreadful feeling, she ran back into the house and snatched a jacket off the hooks on the wall. It didn't matter that it wasn't hers; she just wanted to feel some semblance of warmth again. Since waking up at the North Pole, goose bumps hadn't ceased scaling her limbs with the constant reminder that she was essentially human once more. Once her arms found their way through the sleeves, Cinder tucked her fingers into the pockets and hunched her shoulders, trying desperately to keep her neck warm from the incoming gust of wind.

_Why, Wind? You used to be so kind._

As Cinder walked, the snow crunched under her shoes. It was a novel experience because the snow usually melted as she stepped on it. Slipping a few times, Cinder was thankful that she had some inkling of grace in her lanky limbs. One particular gust of wind actually slid her feet a few inches when she wasn't focusing her weight on said appendages and Cinder nearly fell. Swearing to herself, she noticed that other people weren't paying attention to her. For once, Cinder felt like she couldn't be seen. It was like she blended into the experiences that surrounded her. She was invisible! How could Jack Frost have ever hated this feeling? Cinder felt oddly free; freezing, but free. But perhaps she could get used to this. No, she could _definitely _get used to this.

Jack Frost once again entered her thoughts. He was a parasite that she couldn't be rid of so easily. Their few encounters, on the other hand, were potent enough to make her physically sick. His attempts at friendship were so strained, not because he didn't want to be her friend─ Cinder could tell he was genuine on that front─ but because she wouldn't let him. Cinder thought she knew better than to let someone be that close. Yet here she was, picking up a seven-year-old that was infatuated with her presence. Oh, the irony was not lost on her.

"Cinder! Cinder!" the familiar voice brought her back to the present. Something warm was hugging her waist and it was pleasant and Cinder instinctively hugged back.

"Hey there!" Cinder laughed truthfully, turning around and kneeling so that she was eye to eye with the excited little blond. It was as she did so that Cinder saw her ring still on Sophie's forefinger. It glowed slightly when she looked at it, but she told herself that it was the angle of the sun. "How was your sleepover?"

"It was sooooo much fun! Bye Sarah!" Sophie turned on her heels and waved energetically. "Come on, Cinder! I wanna go skating! Can you get Jack again?" Before Cinder could react, Sophie saw her face and gasped. "Why are you a pirate?" Cinder laughed at the comment as they began walking back down the road and toward the Bennett house.

But then she groaned inwardly over the request to get Jack. It felt like a stab wound was metaphysically tearing into her chest. "I got poked in the eye by Abby's paw when I went to feed her, but it's okay. Besides, we've got to clean the house, Sophie! Your mom comes home soon and she wants a clean house to return to, right?"

"Aw!" Sophie stuck her tongue out, clearly unsatisfied with Cinder's answer. "That's no fun! Can we go skating after?"

Cinder bit her lip. She knew the Guardians were going to want to speak with her at some point. She wasn't sure how long she could hide behind her already thin excuses. The more time she spent with Sophie, the more the little girl was in danger. "If you help me and you're _super_ nice to your brother, then maybe I'll take you tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

Cinder smiled weakly. "It's been a long day for Cinder and Jamie. Jamie probably wants to skate, too, but he can't today. So why don't we wait until tomorrow so that we can all go together?"

"Okay..." Sophie didn't sound convinced, but she skipped ahead of Cinder happily in spite of that.

Cinder shook her head and they walked on at a leisurely pace. The wind had died down a little, a small coincidence for which Cinder was grateful. Her good eye grazed the tops of the houses that they passed. They towered over her, hiding the horizons of the sky behind their ugly flat shingles in shades of black, brown, gray, and similar gradients. It was only two in the afternoon, and yet the sun looked lower in the sky. In a few hours, sunset would plunge the town in various tropical colors that mocked the wintry landscapes. Cinder contemplated watching the sunset from the roof under which she was staying, but rescinded the thought when she remembered her predicament. Frostbite was a real thing to her, now, aside from that night she first talked to Jack Frost.

And just like that, he popped into her mind again. Try as she might, the damned walking icicle found his way into her consciousness. _He's more pervasive than Pitch's phone calls, _Cinder thought with a huff of laughter. She tried to find something redeeming about Jack's character, but all recent events plunged her thoughts into a tautological argument that presented no resolution. At the same time, there were moments when he had shown he cared, and those affected her in a way she couldn't understand. The frustration welled up inside her and she swore that the next time she saw Jack, she might just punch him. It wouldn't solve anything, really, but it would feel good for the moment.

"Ow!" Sophie's voice made Cinder whip her head around to see that Sophie had fallen off the sidewalk. Cinder didn't think anything of it until she did a double-take and saw that a truck was coming and neither participant of the situation seemed to comprehend the danger. Cinder ran over and yanked Sophie back onto the elevated pavement as the truck rolled by and honked at them rudely. _Damn prick,_ Cinder allowed an obscene gesture to float in the air in the hopes that the driver could see it, _he nearly hit her!_

"Thank you, Cinder!" Sophie hugged the redhead once again. The feeling was growing on Cinder, and she found herself smiling despite herself. "That was close!"

"Be careful and don't walk so close to the road next time!" Cinder said a little more harshly than she had intended. Sophie began to tear up and stood stock still.

"No, no, no," Cinder knelt down beside her, "I wasn't trying to be mean, Soph. I just want you to be safe, okay? I couldn't stand to see you get hurt." Her last sentence vocalized everything she had been thinking about in the past twenty-four hours. The overwhelming emotions were almost too much. "So let's get home and I'll make snacks! Does that sound good?"

"Yeah," Sophie said, clearing her sniffles, "I'm sorry. I should watch where I'm going!" She beamed and began skipping ahead of Cinder once again. Cinder shook her head and smiled. The rest of the way home was enjoyed by one in the company of the other. For a few moments, Cinder could pretend that she was normal, that nothing was wrong.

Something made Cinder's shoulder tingle as they made it to their yard. Turning around, Cinder flicked her eye from one focal point to another, searching out the odd feeling. The scene looked off: like she was staring at a very good painting which one could tell was still a painting despite exact details. The wind picked up then, blowing Cinder's jacket hood over her head and in front of her face, as well as several clumps of her frizzed hair. As she tucked both obstructions away, she looked again around her. Seeing nothing but still feeling uneasy, she walked up to the house and walked in through the door that Sophie had unintentionally left open, thinking that Cinder had been behind her.

Kicking off her shoes, Cinder heard Pippa and Jamie's laughter as well as Sophie's giggles from the next room. Taking that as a signal that things were alright, Cinder took some apples that the old lady had bought her out of the fridge and began cutting them up. Arranging them artfully (or at least, artful by way of Cinder's poor definitions), she poured several glasses of milk and brought the set into the living room. She set them down on the coffee table upon several stacks of books. _Geez, Pippa was serious about schoolwork._

"Here you go, guys," Cinder said in a warm voice, "I thought you could use some snacks."

Thanks was given by each individual and Cinder nodded and walked out, figuring that they could handle themselves─ they were all old enough, after all─ and didn't need her around them constantly. She wanted to believe that most of the danger was past them now. With that frame of reference, Cinder sat down at kitchen's island and sighed heavily.

A drink─ a regular, nonalcoholic one─ sounded lovely right about now. Standing up, Cinder opened the fridge with her foot while she got a glass from the cupboard next to it. She set the glass down and put her arm on the fridge door. Peering inside, Cinder frowned. Nothing looked especially pleasing─ she was never a fan of milk. Settling for the lesser of two evils, Cinder grabbed a carton of orange juice and poured the tangy-smelling liquid into her glass. She slid the glass onto the island and sat down once again. The glass was cold in her hand and she hadn't expected it. Not that it was particularly freezing, but it was still something Cinder had to get used to. She was bad at getting used to things. Beginning to understand herself a little bit more, she took a sip. _This would go great with some vodka._

_Shit! I was supposed to buy more whiskey. I wonder if Mrs. Bennett will notice that the bottle's missing._

Cinder flit her eyes toward the lower cabinet and thought better of her decision to do nothing. She'd go out and buy it now, in fact. Besides, she had to drink a good amount of it to equal what the original bottle had in it. Cinder wouldn't let herself drink it while the kids were awake, but as soon as that sun went down...

Or perhaps she could wait a day. Last time she drank, Jack found her and had to babysit her like a newborn that just wouldn't sleep. Weighing her options, Cinder decided that she would wait until at least the day before Mrs. Bennett came back. When was that again? Then Cinder remembered that there were messages on the answering machine. She was horrible with technology, but she tried to make the plastic box speak to her anyway. After a few buttons, the messages relayed. Cinder had been right: one was Pippa and the other was Mrs. Bennett.

_"Hello?" _Mrs. Bennett's voice crackled through the small speakers,_ "Are you home, Jamie? Sophie? Cinder? Well, I guess if you guys are having fun, I shouldn't worry. I just wanted to let the kids know that I'll be coming home Sunday night. Some things happened with work and I have to be back in Burgess to deal with them. Anyway, I'll be back then, and I'll get you your payment for a full week, Cinder. I'm sure you're working hard! I'll be back soon. I love you, kids! Bye-bye."_

Cinder's eyes widened. _Well, I guess that makes _today_ the day before she comes back. I better go get her whiskey... and start drinking._ Outwardly, she was annoyed that she'd have to drink so much at one time just so that she could cover up her one splurge. But on the inside, Cinder was relieved and thought a drink was fairly appropriate. She'd just have to make sure she stayed inside the house this time. That, she could do. Probably.

"Jamie, Sophie!" Cinder called from the kitchen, looking for her sweater. What had happened to that thing? She swore she had left it on the counter... at some point. Finding it on the rack, she threw it on and walked back to the living room doorway. "Your mom's coming back tomorrow night and I have to go to the store. If any of you could start cleaning, that'd be wonderful."

"Can I go to the store with you, Cinder?" Sophie jumped up, already believing Cinder was going to say yes.

Unfortunately, this time wasn't going to be a yes. "Sorry, Soph. Next time, okay?"

"But there is no next time! You're leaving when mommy gets back, aren't you?"

"Well, that depends on what your mom decides," Cinder answered vaguely. The thought hadn't crossed Cinder's mind since she took the job. It was possible that she could stay, but she hadn't intended that outcome. She hadn't even wanted to watch kids! Hell, Mrs. Bennett lied in the ad and told her it was a house-sitting job. Cinder was still a little angry over the misunderstanding, but she let it alone due to other pressing matters. If she stayed, however, Pitch would get suspicious. He's already gotten through to the family once, and Cinder knew he would try again. Where would she go then? She would probably go back to being a drifter. Not that that particular lifestyle was awful, but Cinder made connections she didn't think she'd ever have again. Since the incident with Rebecca, Cinder couldn't bring herself to feel this kind of way again out of fear for her own integrity. _And look at me now,_ Cinder thought ruefully.

After saying her brief goodbyes, she grabbed a second jacket and hauled it over her sweater in the hopes that some warmth would be available to her. Walking outside again, the bitter wind nipped at her exposed skin, causing sensations she had never felt before. It was eerie and unpredictable, and it set Cinder in a disgruntled mood all the way to the liquor store and back. Thankfully, she still had her fake ID from the last town she had lived in and it worked beautifully. The trusty piece of plastic had gotten her into thousands of nightclubs and given her access to all the alcohol to temporarily drown out her long-winded but insignificant life and all of its sorrowful events. It never bothered her, she couldn't die, but nonetheless Cinder was bored with watching the world change without her. Looking into the brown bag, she knew she wouldn't have to wait long. It might be the last drink she'd have for awhile, if Pitch decided to give her back her powers and make her fight on his side. More and more, that prospect nagged at Cinder's mind with an aching urgency.

* * *

Pippa had left reluctantly after some time and the kids were getting ready for bed. Cinder and Jamie played with Sophie in the living room. Sophie tried to take Cinder's eye patch off several times, to which Jamie replied with a gentle swat. One time, she succeeded in ripping off the piece and Cinder immediately winked, keeping the broken eye shut tightly. As soon as she felt the pressure lighten, the eye had opened for little more than a split second. The world was insanely bright and hard to distinguish through the eye, which was why she kept it closed. After chasing Sophie around the house and tackling her with tickles, Cinder was able to retrieve the eye patch from the banister at the top of the stairs where Sophie threw it in a last-ditch effort. Running back into the living room, Jamie caught Cinder's attention with a questioning look. Cinder shook her head, knowing Jamie was wondering if Sophie had seen her eye. Jamie was visibly relieved and stood up.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed early tonight," he stretched. "It's been a long day, you know?"

Cinder nodded. As Jamie reached the top of the stairs, she called up to him, "Jamie! Lock your door and windows, okay? I'll keep watch if you want."

Jamie was about to decline, but understood what Cinder meant. "That's fine, Cinder. In all honesty," he lowered his voice so that Sophie wouldn't overhear, "I don't think he truly meant to do anything. It might have just been a ploy to get to the Guardians."

"Well, it sort of worked," said Cinder.

"But Pitch doesn't know that," Jamie pointed out.

Cinder nodded absently. There was very little that Pitch didn't know. "Okay. If anything happens, or you start to panic─"

"─I'll let you know," Jamie finished her sentence. He started to walk to his room, but stopped short of the door handle. "Hey, Cinder?"

Cinder walked over to the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah?"

"The Guardians mean well, and a lot was happening all at once for them to handle, so don't take it out on them for ignoring us. The teeth are definitely more important. Jack wouldn't be Jack without them."

Cinder stopped herself from replying rudely and kneaded the information. It was indeed very possible that she had overreacted, but she was handling a lot, too! But Jack wouldn't be Jack? She knew what the teeth were for and she understood that Jack had been given them so that he could have his human memories back, but what exactly was Jamie talking about? Was Jack completely different as a human? The memory of Jack's two faces confronted her again, and it nearly knocked her off her feet from the unexpected blow. Ignoring her headache, she gripped the railing tightly.

"You're right," Cinder decided not to delve further; she wanted _really _wanted to start drinking, "goodnight, Jamie. Tell Sophie I said goodnight, too."

"Will do," Jamie walked out of sight, "night!"

_Aaaaaaaaaand it's drinking time!_

* * *

**A/N: I've been told I'm really bad with my cliffhangers (meaning I use a lot of them :P). I think it's partly because I just don't know where to stop a lot of the times hahaha. **

**Anyway, I think this will be my last story to mention this but I published another short (won't be a short for long, though) called _The Things No One Knows_. It's a zombie!AU with no (major) OCs. It's pretty dark and violent, however. Just warning you in case you decide to check it out!**

**Have/Hope you had a good day!**


	21. Walking on Egg Shells

**A/N: For those of you who have been waiting patiently, here's the next update! I'll have to update one per week until Finals are over (first full week of May), but that's okay because I have just enough written to get me to that point. Then I'll have to crank out umpteen chapters by the week so that you guys can have two chapters a week in all of my stories (internally freaking out). Thankfully, I have had the plot set in stone for awhile for all my stories, so I don't think it'll be too difficult.**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 21** \- _Walking on Egg Shells_

* * *

Jack and Tooth flew back to the North Pole as fast as the wind could carry them. Of course, Tooth had wings that flew much faster, but she preferred to keep to Jack's speed. Jack, on the other hand, didn't feel like conversing much. Tooth had put a dangerous theory in his mind, and he wasn't sure if he would believe it. Even if it turned out to be true, how could Cinder be at fault? Pitch was controlling her through fearlings. That much was clear. But was it before or after this incident, or had she always been infected? How much control does she have over herself? Jack couldn't think of easy answers. He knew that Cinder cared for Jamie and Sophie, enough to nearly get herself killed in the rescuing process. Hopefully, they were all back home and safe. As soon as he possibly could, Jack set his heart on confronting Cinder once her "job" with the Bennett household was done. At least then, anything tying her to the place that Jack swore to protect most of all would be gone. He could talk to her without any worry that she might hide the truth, if she was doing so.

Or at least, Jack thought he could be objective about it. In truth, he still regarded her as a friend and wanted to keep it that way, almost to a fault.

The Guardians were in an uproar when Tooth told them about her theory. Jack rolled his eyes as she repeated it back to North, Sandy, and Bunny in rapid succession and the return of a thousand questions presented themselves. He could admit that the fearlings were a very real possibility, but the rest was blown out of proportion, he was sure. If Jack hadn't told Tooth about Cinder's missing case and her broken eye, they wouldn't have anything to go on. Besides, it could have been _anyone_ that tried to burn down the Tooth Palace. Just because Cinder had been there to get her teeth didn't mean she had freaking _fire powers_ for Moon's sake. Of course, no one would believe Jack's version after hearing Tooth's; tunnel vision ran rampant throughout the Guardians' minds.

"Is fearlings!" North cursed. "I did not think to check. She was passed out cold when Jack brought her here."

"That's what I'm saying!" Tooth exasperated. "Pitch must have found a weak point and flooded her with the scary little things!"

"Then why would he need her choppahs?" Bunny asked, not completely understanding Tooth's logic. Jack silently agreed with him.

"It must be so he can control her!" Tooth was changing her theory again.

"Is that not what fearlings are for?" North caught it.

"An' didn' you say _she _was the one to steal her own choppahs?" asked Bunny.

"Pitch must have bargained with her. You know, Jamie for her tooth case," Tooth clarified.

"But why would she do that if she wasn' bein' controlled yet?" Bunny instigated.

"Gee," Jack spoke up from his perch on top of the Globe, "maybe it's because she actually cared about Jamie enough to save him for us." Jack's voice was filled with bitterness.

"Lay off the salt, Frostbite," Bunny snapped.

Jack rolled his eyes and continued to half-listen to their conversation. At this stage in his relationship to the Guardians, he recognized exactly when nothing was going to get done about anything. Merely arguing for hours, they wasted their time instead of paying attention to the _kids_. Sure, Jack taught them that being close to the kids mattered, but did they truly take the advice? Doubt laughed in his mind. If they ever decided what to do about Cinder, another three hundred years would have passed.

"All in vote to bring the sheila in fo' questionin', say 'aye,'" Bunny's voice pierced Jack's consciousness. He spoke too soon.

'Aye' was heard unanimous, even Sandy had his hand raised. Jack couldn't believe it, but he could use it to his advantage.

"I'll go get her," Jack stood up, ready to jump out of the window.

"Oh, no you don't," Bunny jumped up and grabbed Jack's feet, pulling him down to the ground, level with the rest of them. "We ain't sendin' you on anymore scout missions."

"What are you talking about? She's not going to listen to any of you," Jack pointed his staff at Bunny's gut, knowing well the silent threat was received. "Why can't I go and get her?"

"Jack," Tooth spoke apologetically, "you're the only one with doubts. We just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Cinder won't go with you!" Jack insisted. "She still has to watch Jamie and Sophie for a few more nights. Can't you guys wait until then, at least? Or are you forgetting what she did for us?"

"Look, Jack," North put his hand on Jack's shoulder, but he shook it away. This trick wasn't going to work again. "Cinder is key to finding out what Pitch is doing. We have to get to her before Pitch does. Think of it as protection for her and kids."

"Interrogating the girl is your idea of protection?" Jack asked incredulously. "Come on, she'd see right through that. Don't you know her at all?"

"We've met her like, twice, mate," Bunny informed him. "Are you sayin' you know her any better?"

Jack admitted he knew very little and swore under his breath. "But I can at least watch over the house in the meantime, can't I?"

"Not alone, no," North looked around for volunteers. All of the Guardians suddenly looked away and it felt like Jack was punched in the stomach. Were they really and completely against him? Even Tooth? Then Sandy looked to Jack and walked forward. Standing beside the winter spirit, Sandy turned to North and signed an arrow point to him, then to Jack, and then a picture of Burgess.

"Are you sure, Sandy?" North asked the older Guardian. When Sandy nodded, North sighed. "Alright, go. But if anything happens, you bring girl here! Do not interact with her until then!" North pointed to the ground.

Sandy nodded and Jack whispered a word of thanks to the golden Guardian. North handed over some globe portals and told them to check back in twenty-four hours. Jack narrowed his eyes but didn't object. Calling to the wind, he floated out of the Workshop and waited for the Sandman to fly up on his sand cloud. Once ready, Jack tossed a portal and they went through it.

* * *

Happening upon a lazy Saturday afternoon in Burgess, Jack and Sandy floated just above the forest's tree line on the edge of town. Jamie's house was closer to this side of town, which made this spot the best place to wait. There was something wrong with this plan, however: Jack hated to wait.

Right then, he balanced on a branch that should have been way too small to support his weight. He tossed his staff onto his head so that he had an extra object to balance besides himself. It was one trick Jack hadn't been able to do yet. Slowly moving his head in a circle, he tried to counterbalance the direction which the staff was falling. The movements were haphazard at first, but Jack was able to slow it down. The key was to become very still, _very _slowly. Patience was not normally his favorite virtue, but in a situation where he had a job that took awhile, it became an excellent pass time. This time, though, he had it. He was balancing it in a fairly still manner until golden sand out of the corner of his eye made him jerk his head around, causing his staff to fall. Catching it before it fell to the ground far below, he yelled indignantly in the direction of the sand. Upon looking that way, however, Jack saw that Sandy wasn't there. He twisted around, not seeing Sandy anywhere.

He was about to fly up and search him out until a golden lasso ensnared his waist and sucked him below the tops of the trees. Falling into his own snow, he had to fly to get out of the impression his body made. Jack admired Sandy's strength, but when he saw the golden man's silent giggle fit, Jack couldn't help sneering playfully.

"Really funny, big guy," Jack joked. He was about to return the favor when Sandy pointed toward the house up the hill. Jack realized Sandy had brought them down here because a girl was walking up to the house at that same moment. Instantly recognizing Pippa, Jack feared that she might get dragged into the entire situation if she saw Jamie as he was currently. Jack didn't want to put more kids in danger. He was about to walk out of the bare foliage and stop her when Sandy held up his hand and wagged his finger. He then sculpted a pair of binoculars out of his golden sand and looked back toward the house. Obliging, Jack crouched and observed.

It was Cinder who opened the door, and a pang of guilt resounded inside Jack when he saw her, still wearing the eye patch. She looked disheveled and out-of-place, tired and anxious. He hoped that she would turn Pippa away, for all of their sakes'. To Jack's dismay, Cinder opened the door wider and allowed Pippa into the house. He wanted to see what was happening, but the fence in front of the house hid the windows mostly from view.

"I'm going up there," Jack was itching to get a closer look. Sandy nodded, but held a finger to his lips and signaled a person tiptoeing above his head. Jack understood and ran up to the edge of the fence instead of flying. If there was any chance that they were going to be seen, Jack wanted to minimize it. As much as he was in disagreement with the Guardians currently, he comprehended the necessity to stay low. Talking with Cinder would have to wait until he could prove her innocence. Jack didn't know how he was going to do that, but he was confident that he'd find a way.

Jack peered over the fence just in time to see Cinder leaving the house. He gasped and hid himself behind the fence again. Where was she going? Jack closed one eye and looked through a hole in the fence that he discovered upon hiding. Cinder was walking in his direction and Jack began to sweat. However, Jack saw that she was only wearing jeans and a tee, without a jacket. He noticed that she was overtly shivering, and she ran back in the house after a few seconds. Jack chuckled. _Does she have any heat left in her body? _The thought was a half-joke, but also partially serious. Cinder came out a few seconds later, wearing Jamie's winter jacket. It fit her amusingly well, and she writhed underneath it. Jack wondered if it was the first time she'd ever worn such an article.

Jack ran around the corner of the fence and watched Cinder plod down to the sidewalk and up the road, away from him. Glancing in Sandy's direction, Jack pointed to himself and then to Cinder. Then he pointed to the Sandman and the house. With Sandy's nod, Jack followed Cinder from a safe distance in the air. He wasn't concerned about anyone else seeing him, he was just trying to keep out of Cinder's awareness. Jack wasn't sure if Cinder was conscious of this action, but he saw her look around occasionally, as if searching someone out. But she never looked in his direction. Did she know he was following her? Was she still angry at him? Probably.

Then Jack heard a little kid's voice and promptly flew down to the ground and hid behind a mailbox. _This is ridiculous, I wanted to be seen for so long, and now I've got to hide from my own believers!_ Jack looked around the container and saw Sophie hugging Cinder with the kind of affection Jack remembered between his own sister and himself. A smile formed on his lips at the memory. He sat back and allowed them to flood through his mind. It had been awhile since he'd thought about and focused on his old family and the good memories. The past few days had ruined that for him and seeing Cinder and Sophie made Jack feel better.

Sophie's shriek caught Jack's attention and he ran around the corner of the street. He saw that Sophie had fallen into the road and a large truck was coming her way. Jack was about to run out and grab her when he saw Cinder do the same in the blink of an eye. For fear of being seen, Jack hid behind a parked car a few feet from them. Her heard Sophie's tears and Cinder's reprimands and wished he could have been there to alleviate both troubles. But Cinder handled it surprisingly well and Jack saw that they had picked up their travelling again. He walked behind them, careful not to make a noise.

Sophie was skipping and spinning and talking and giggling while Cinder laughed intermittently and smiled back at the little blond girl. The quiet complementary relationship between them had Jack thinking about his sister again. She had always followed him in the same way that Sophie was following Cinder, and Sophie acted much like Jack's sister. Jack hoped that his sister was still able to smile and have fun after he left their world, then he remembered his nightmare last night and frowned. It was just a dream, but for some reason, Jack couldn't shake the feeling that his reflection was telling him the truth: the house fire was real and his sister being in that fire was real. The thoughts made him woozy, and by the time he put himself back together again, he narrowly avoided colliding into Cinder. Panicking, he flew high into the air. Cinder turned around in time to see nothing, but Jack knew that she had felt something. Swearing under his breath, Jack felt stupid for almost ruining everything. That seemed to be a familiar pattern for him, he thought bitterly.

Jack immediately flew back to where Sandy was waiting. A disappointed look was painted on the Guardian's face, and Jack hung his head in embarrassment. He recapped what he'd seen, though, especially the part where Cinder saved Sophie from getting hit. Sandy took the news in with slow nods, deep in contemplation. Flitting his glance to the house and back to Jack, Sandy signaled a star's light, a plus sign, Pippa's face, and a pair of lips, followed with a giggle from the golden Guardian. It took Jack a second to realize what Sandy was talking about. Then it hit him: Jamie and Pippa had kissed. Jack was upset that he missed it, but at least it was a sign that Jamie was returning to his normal self. And he could totally pick on the teenager when times were more appropriate.

A few hours later, something strange happened. Cinder left the house again, but this time more cautiously. Nothing had really happened until just then, and Cinder's face betrayed her emotions. Above all, Jack could tell that she was freezing despite wearing what had now become several jackets. Jack told the Sandman that he was going to follow her again when the older Guardian created a giant stop sign in front of Jack's path. It was time to switch, and that meant Jack had to stay still and watch the house. Realizing he wasn't getting out of this, Jack sat in a snow bank he created and stuck his tongue out at Sandy as he flew off on a sand cloud.

* * *

When Sandy returned, his features were both brightened and concerned.

"What happened, Sandy?" Jack watched as Cinder walked up to the house, a brown bag gripped tightly in her left hand. Instantly, Jack knew what she had gone out to get.

"Are you kidding me?" Jack was fed up with Cinder's unpredictable behavior. "If she gets drunk, I am _not_ carrying her back to bed again."

The Sandman furrowed his brows at the winter spirit and three question marks accompanied the look. Jack realized it sounded different than he intended.

"It's not like that," Jack insisted first and foremost. "The night I was watching over Jamie, Cinder got drunk in a tree and I had to carry her back to her bed. It wasn't pleasant."

But Sandy was still quizzical. Then he signed a spirit, a bottle of alcohol, and a cancel sign. When Jack didn't understand, Sandy signed it again, then pointed to Cinder and put a cancel sign over the spirit.

"Spirits can't get drunk?" Jack asked and Sandy nodded immediately.

"Which means..." Jack started to put it together, "it means Cinder's not a spirit!" Sandy nodded, a smile on his face.

"That's amazing! Cinder's clear of suspicion, then!"

Sandy frowned.

Jack thought it through and shut his mouth. The Guardians wouldn't change their minds that quickly. It was no longer a matter of whether or not she was a spirit. It was if she was in conscious control of herself or if Pitch had her wrapped around his finger, and for how long this has been occurring. Closing his eyes in defeat, Jack sank back into the snow.

But wait. This was his chance... wasn't it?

"I'm going to go talk to her," Jack stood up and started to cross the road when Sandy popped up in front of him. He signed that they weren't allowed to intervene until Cinder's job was done.

"I can't just let her drink all of that, and I know she'll try. It bothers me for some reason," Jack muttered vaguely, to which Sandy mulled over briefly. Finally nodding slowly, Sandy stepped aside and signaled Jack to be careful.

Jack walked up to the door and contemplated knocking. Deciding it would be best if he just walked in─ he didn't want to wake Abby or the kids─ Jack opened the door slowly. Once inside, he saw Cinder sitting on one side of the kitchen island, her head low and her hands grasping something he couldn't see. She didn't respond to him entering, so he took it to mean she was expecting him. Jack took his seat across from her, knowing Sandy could see into the kitchen from here. He didn't attempt to speak because she seemed to be deep in thought. The bottle was already open and a shot glass was in her hand, resting on the table. Jack wanted to smack it out of her hand, but he wasn't sure why the impulse was so strong. It was so strong that he was about to swing his arm, when Cinder's voice came out small and lyrical:

_"I don't know where you're going  
__But do you got room for one more  
__Troubled soul?  
__I don't know where I'm going  
__But I don't think I'm coming home  
__And I said I'll check in tomorrow  
__If I don't wake up dead  
__This is the road to ruin  
__And we're starting at the end"_

"Cheerful," Jack commented, his voice suddenly loud in the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen.

"It was an invitation," Cinder slid the shot glass toward him without picking up her head. "Since I can't ever drink alone, it seems."

"You got yourself stuck in a tree last time," Jack reminded her.

Cinder's shoulders shrugged lazily. The awkwardness in the air caused Jack to sigh dramatically.

"You have a... nice voice," Jack tried to get her to open up through the compliment.

Cinder hummed in acknowledgement. "Right," she said, not believing Jack in the slightest. He wasn't lying, necessarily. Her voice was pretty in a rough, natural way, but it wasn't very good at singing. Without precursor, she tipped the bottle back and took several gulps before Jack confiscated the entire bottle, spilling some on the floor.

"What the hell?" Cinder said after coughing. "That's alcohol abuse," she pointed to the spilled alcohol, "and I gave you your own glass."

"How gracious," Jack's sarcasm was as bad as Cinder's in the moment, "but I think what you're trying to do is what's called alcohol abuse."

Cinder scoffed and reached out for the shot glass in front of Jack. "Suit yourself."

Jack smacked her hand. They both winced and halted instantly, expecting the shock, the flash, the pain. When nothing occurred, Cinder tried again. This time Jack grasped her wrist and held it down. It was small and frail, yet smooth and gentle. And eerily cold. Surely a fire spirit wouldn't feel like this? "What do you think you're doing?" he asked louder than he intended.

"I have to drink, like, three-quarters of the bottle before their mom comes home, since I drank the last of her other bottle. It'll be like nothing was missing."

"You've got a few days, don't you? Besides, why don't you just pour it down the sink?"

"Again," Cinder tried to rip her hand free of Jack's icy grip to no avail, "that's alcohol abuse. Could you let go of my hand, please? It's freezing."

"Always has been," Jack let go solemnly.

"Well, worse than normal," Cinder got up and grabbed her sweater. She put it on and cleaned up the alcohol on the floor beside Jack. "So what are you doing here?"

Jack bit his lip and tried to think through his responses. He wanted to stop her from drinking. That had been the main thing. But now that he was with her, all the other questions he'd wanted to ask had vanished. Then they heard slight footfalls coming closer. Cinder shot up and hid the whiskey in a cabinet by her feet and sat down again. In through the doorway came a very sleepy Sophie.

Cinder's entire body suddenly softened. As she walked over and knelt beside her, she asked, "What are you doing up, Soph?"

The little blond girl rubbed her eyes and blinked at Cinder's closeness. "I wanted to sleep in your room, but you were gone. I thought you had left us and that mommy was back."

"Wouldn't you be happy that your mommy came back?" Cinder's entire demeanor had changed, and Jack sat still in order to observe, hidden from Sophie's view.

"Yeah," Sophie whimpered, "but I don't want you to leave, Cinder. I want you to stay." Her voice made Jack feel horrible about what the Guardians were planning.

"Oh, Hun," Cinder took the girl into a hug, and Jack was again surprised. He didn't know Sophie had grown so attached to Cinder, or vice versa. "I'll see if your mommy can keep me here, okay?"

"Really?" Sophie seemed to brighten up considerably.

"Mhm," Cinder nodded, "but you have to go back to bed, or your mom might think I'm not a good babysitter." Jack was unsure Cinder would be able to keep that promise.

"You're not a babysitter, Cinder, you're like my sister," Sophie stated with complete innocence. Jack saw Cinder shiver, and he guessed that she may have had tears forming in her eyes. "But okay. Goodnight," Sophie added as she plodded back up the stairs.

When they heard Sophie's door close, Cinder sat down with her head in her hands. After awhile, she looked at Jack with the most sincere green eye (since the eye patch was still securely over her injured one) he'd ever seen. "Jack, how long do I have?"

"What?"

"I know the Guardians have me under suspicion," Cinder admitted, "and I figure they'll want to talk to me. So how long do I have?"

"You were listening in on us?" Jack asked incredulously. North had said she was close to dying and passed out for so long that there was no way she'd even be on her feet as soon as she was, but she was actually awake and _listening_ to them discussing her?

"I needed to make sure Jamie was okay," Cinder explained, "it's my job."

"You take it pretty seriously," Jack commented.

Cinder huffed a sort of small laugh. "Yeah, I guess I do." Was she _smiling?_ "So are you going to take me away when the time comes?"

"We─ I was just ordered to watch over the house until their mom came home. That way it wouldn't be as bad for the kids," Jack almost slipped up in mentioning that Sandy was also watching.

"How gracious," Cinder imitated him, at which Jack smirked. "Listen, their mom called. She's coming home tomorrow night. So after they dismiss me, I'll go with you."

"Why are you giving in?"

"Giving in? I'm not guilty," Cinder clarified, not that it really cleared anything in Jack's mind. "I just figured I should clear my name with them. If anything, I just have a question for you."

"Go for it," Jack tilted his head in interest.

Cinder licked her lips and inhaled. "What happened? I mean, when you were human. How'd you become a spirit?"

Jack was taken aback by the question. "What made you think about that?" There was no way in his mind that he thought she was about to confess to being a spirit. Jack knew that she wasn't one now. Unless, was she trying to lie? But to Sophie and Jamie and everyone else that could see her, she was clearly human. So was she a human lying about being a spirit lying about being a human? Or a spirit lying about being a human, but also somehow able to keep a human guise? Jack's head started to spin.

"The first time you were here, you talked about being human once and regaining your memories from that time. I was just wondering, I guess. Whatever happened, it made you a Guardian, right?"

"You're not wrong," Jack smiled nervously. "I, ah... I had a family, a mother and a sister, actually. I don't know about my father. And, well, I was skating with my sister one day, and she skated over some thin ice. I hooked her with my staff here," Jack held up his staff that he almost never let go of, "and I switched places with her. I fell through, and..." Jack hadn't retold this story in four years, when he told the other Guardians just after getting rid of Pitch. His throat was starting to swell, and if he wasn't careful, it would wash over him anew. "Well, you can guess the rest."

"Oh my God..." Cinder's voice failed her and she looked painfully distraught, "so, that day I went skating with you and Sophie and my foot went through?"

Thinking back to that event, Jack closed his eyes and tried to breathe normally. When Cinder fell through... Jack had been in such a panic that he hadn't thought about it at first. But now, Jack realized he had been scared. He hadn't shown it, but he was scared to see Cinder literally falling into the same situation that killed him three hundred years ago. "It wasn't a pleasant revisit," Jack affirmed grimly.

Cinder took another swig from the bottle that she had deftly taken out of its hiding spot before Jack could react. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't know." Her voice was becoming hoarse and her breath smelled less than wonderful.

"It wasn't your fault," Jack ignored the action.

Cinder nodded thoughtfully and they fell into silence again. "If you don't want me to get shitfaced, can you at least help me drink some of it? She probably doesn't even know how much she had left."

Jack's eyes moved toward the bottle. It wouldn't hurt him because spirits couldn't get drunk, probably because they were dead to begin with, but what was Sandy going to think? Surely he was still watching their conversation. And who knows what the golden Guardian would do if he saw Jack participating in the very act he said he was trying to stop? "Alright... but only if I can get some answers as well." That would explain things to Sandy, wouldn't it?

"Be my guest," Cinder tipped the bottle toward him. In Jack's entire life─ human and spirit─ he'd never drank before. Taking the bottle, he lifted it to his lips and took a sip. It was so bitter and strong that Jack nearly spat it out. It was disgusting, repulsive, and it burned his throat thoroughly. It would be a huge surprise if he was even able to speak at all.

After a fit of coughing, Jack began. "Why'd Pitch want your teeth?"

"How should I know?" She grabbed the bottle from him and took an expert gulp from the bottle and set it down quickly, as if demonstrating how Jack was doing it wrong. "I just knew if I got him the teeth, then he'd release Jamie."

"So, what about your scar? I thought he wanted to kill you or something."

"You know," Cinder thought about it, "I don't know why he didn't just kill me. Perhaps having my teeth is worse?"

"It's far worse," Jack answered, "Pitch could destroy them and you'd never have your childhood memories to rely on. Eventually, you'd forget who you were before."

Cinder's eyes grew wide. "What?" Her voice was a little louder than Jack had anticipated, and he shrunk away from her. Apologizing, she passed the bottle to him and he tried to take a swig the same way that she had. The result was a second, intense burning in his throat and now a burning in his nose. How strong was this stuff, anyway? Turning the bottle over, he read something that said, "120 Proof." Jack didn't know what it meant, but it can't have been a low quantity.

"Yeah, but you're pretty much an adult, so I doubt it'll matter much if he destroys them now," Jack explained, "the memories are pretty set in your mind."

Expecting an answer but receiving none, Jack leaned his head in to see that Cinder was to the point of tears. Shocked, Jack walked around to her side and knelt down to see her face better. Her eye was closed, and she was scratching at the eye patch. A small, imperceptible tear shot down her cheek and rested underneath her chin. A few more followed and joined the original tear, forming a larger tear that dripped down onto her lap. The loud silence with which she lost control of her emotions was heart wrenching. Jack wasn't sure why she was crying, but he decided to kneel beside her in companionable silence, waiting for her to build her strength to answer.

Her sniffles disrupted the silence and Jack heard her clear her throat. She spoke weakly, "I don't remember my childhood, Jack."

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**A/N: The song used is "Alone Together" by Fall Out Boy. I'm surprised that I've used two songs in one fic. Normally, I wouldn't use any.**

**Anyway, sorry that my other fics (if you read any of them besides this one) haven't gotten any updates in awhile. School and stuff, you know? I promise I'll get them updated as soon as I can!**


	22. Fond of Heart

**A/N: In case you haven't looked at my profile, my other works are on hold until after finals (early May). This one story is the exception, as it will keep going on a once-a-week basis. However, it may stay once-a-week for the rest of its course. Sorry in advance! I'm really trying my best here!**

**Also, sorry that there's so much dialogue in these recent chapters. I need things to move along so that I can get to writing the fun part. :D**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 22** \- _Fond of Heart_

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Jack stood stock still, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. Cinder didn't remember her childhood? Everything that had been on his mind suddenly vanished. _She's a lot like me, then... _Jack was scared for her. He knew what it was like to not remember such a vital part of his life, and that it was damaging knowing they were out there somewhere. But Cinder's memories were in danger of being destroyed. Jack wanted to empathize, but he didn't know a way of telling her exactly what it was he wanted to say. Hoping that it would be sufficient, he took a finger and lifted Cinder's chin so that her tearful eye met his own. Her cheek was still wet and Jack knew she needed this. He let go of her chin and wrapped his arms around her. Jack wanted her to know that he was here with her, and that he understood.

The hug was different than others Jack had experienced. Granted, he hadn't hugged many people. He had only ever hugged Jamie and Tooth, truthfully. Jack was consciously embarrassed that he couldn't convey a proper hug for the moment, so he let his left hand wrap around her back and rest on her shoulder while his other hand went around her waist, and held tighter. It was a little awkward because Cinder was still sitting on the stool and therefore much shorter. He had to adjust his height so that her head was against his chest. Her coppery hair tickled his chin and nose even though her body was still. She was probably frozen from shock, or from his touch. But Jack hadn't considered his temperature in the moment. He could feel her tears seeping into his sweatshirt and freezing over slowly, adding to the frost that already collected on it. Not entirely certain that she was okay with this, Jack rested his chin on top of her head and waited. He knew if he said anything that the moment might be ruined and she might turn away from him again. And yet, Cinder's arms never moved, never reached up to push him away or to hug him back. Was this a quiet refusal for his support, or was this something else?

Before Jack could ask, his grip was torn away and he was shoved into the fridge door handle, pain shooting up his spine. As he recovered, he saw a broom handle being prodded into his abdomen, not without force. Running his eyes up the broom he saw the person grasping it with bone-white knuckles.

"Jamie?" Jack asked, breathless. "What are you doing?"

"Get away from her, you... you _nightmare!" _Jamie yelled, standing in front of Cinder, whose eyes were wide and misted with incomprehension. The stance looked protective, but his features told of something more sinister. Jamie continued to prod at Jack with the broom, causing Jack to scuttle backward on the kitchen floor until he was able to grab a counter and stand up. But as soon as he was on his feet, Jamie whirled the broom around and smacked Jack in the head with the bristles. Jack threw his hand toward the ground and created a patch of ice on which Jamie fell backward.

"Stop it!" Cinder ran over and took the broom from Jamie. "Jamie! That's Jack, don't you recognize him?"

"It's not Jack!" Jamie insisted deliriously. "He shifted! He shifted into a nightmare!"

"What are you talking about, Jamie?" Cinder pulled him up by the shoulders and looked him square in the eye. Jack walked closer and sat down with them, watching to see what Cinder would do. "This is the real Jack, you can see for yourself. Look," Cinder proceeded to touch Jack's sleeve, then moved up to his face and through his hair, a motion which Jack found oddly comforting. As soon as her hand was there, however, it was gone and she had taken his hand in hers. Cinder brought his hand toward Jamie and made them hold for a few moments.

Jamie seemed to visibly calm down. "I'm sorry, Jack," he apologized with the utmost sincerity, "I must not have fully woken up from my dream."

Cinder glimpsed at Jack momentarily. "Was your heart pounding? Did your vision become darker? Was breathing difficult?"

Jamie blinked in surprise. "Y-yes. How did you...?"

"You had a panic attack," Cinder explained, "Jamie... Pitch might have brainwashed you."

Jack couldn't tell if that was a joke. She looked completely serious, but that didn't make any sense to Jack. Even if that were the case, did that mean that Cinder was also brainwashed by Pitch? "That's a bit of a jump, don' t you think? Besides, it's impossible," Jack interjected, "he didn't act this way when we were at the North Pole."

"It could have settled in after he recovered."

"Maybe," Jack contemplated it. "Jamie, what was in your dream?"

Jamie sat back and mulled it over. "We were skating, all of us. But you turned into a nightmare, controlled by Pitch, and you went after the Guardians. But they didn't know you had changed and I couldn't stop them. You slipped in and─ and─" Jamie started to convulse into another attack. Before Jack could do anything, Cinder pulled the boy next to her and began to calm him down. But before it was gone, Jack swore he saw a black speck swimming in Jamie's brown eyes.

"It's okay, Jamie," Cinder placated, "you don't have to tell us. We understand."

Jack nodded. After a few moments of silence, he stood. "I have to get back to my job, so you two should probably get to bed." Cinder agreed and helped Jamie back to bed after saying goodbye to Jack.

When they were out of his sight, Jack walked out of the house and flew back across the road and into the trees where he knew Sandy would be waiting. Finding him sleeping, Jack shook him awake. As it turned out, Sandy had a vague idea about what had occurred, but still needed Jack's side of the events. So Jack went into perfect detail, with the exception of Cinder's question about Jack's past. He figured Sandy knew as well as the others how painful it was for Jack to remember. Sandy listened patiently to Jack, and some part of him believed that Sandy knew something was off.

However, the golden Guardian didn't mention anything in reference to that, something for which Jack was glad. But what Sandy did point out was as unfortunate as Jack had feared: Jamie probably had a fearling inside of him, possibly more than one. As for the hug shared between Jack and Cinder, Sandy skirted around it by talking about her amnesia that prompted the action. Perhaps, Sandy had signed, her amnesia had been useful for Pitch to turn her to his side, if the fearlings hadn't managed to do so already. That would strengthen Tooth's theory about Cinder. However, what Sandy said gave Jack hope: even if Cinder was controlled by Pitch, it may only partly be so. Sandy sculpted a picture of Cinder hugging Sophie, and nodded, meaning that he could see the true feelings behind Cinder's actions.

"If that's the case," Jack ventured, "do we still have to take her away from them so soon?"

Sandy admitted that he didn't want to do that, but that if she knew anything at all, that answers should be uncovered as soon as possible.

Jack didn't want to tear Cinder away from them, either, but he understood what Sandy was saying. But he couldn't shake the intimate connection that he now had to Cinder. Her memories were just as far away from her as his had been from him and the despair she must be going through resonated with Jack. If she could give them any answers, she would need her memories. Otherwise, Jack feared, this was going to be impossible.

"I've got to get her tooth case away from Pitch," Jack said with finality.

But upon looking to the older Guardian, Jack was disappointed to see Sandy shaking his head, tiny sleep-like bells sounding off almost without notice. Sandy signaled that if Jack aggravated Pitch just yet, the Nightmare King may propel his plans forward and catch them all off guard. Sandy wanted to hold off any provoked attacks for as long as was possible. Jack thought better of it and nodded slowly when he saw Sandy immediately create an "&amp;" above his head. Jack increased his attention and waited for the Guardian to continue. Sandy also warned Jack not to interfere with their current job again, which meant no talking to Cinder until after questioning. Jack's countenance fell and his shoulders slumped. Every chance he could possibly have to talk to the unique girl was taken from him before he could act on it, and it was unfair in the most annoying way.

Jack scowled and sat on a higher tree branch. With his back against the main body of the tree, Jack waited in boredom for something─ anything─ interesting. After awhile, Jack peered down to see if Sandy was watching more intently and saw that the Guardian was, in fact, fast asleep. Little golden Z's made of sand drifted through the air, and Jack smiled impishly.

Betting on his silent abilities as a spirit, Jack hopped from the tree and flew to Cinder's window. He knocked quietly but urgently, hoping that she was awake. Not hearing any response, Jack peered into the window and was frustrated by the fact that his frost was covering the glass before he could get a good look. He saw the redhead hunched over something, but what it was Jack couldn't see. He breathed her name, knowing this may be the last time he could talk to her for awhile─ if not the last time ever. Saying it louder, Jack knew she heard it because her pale face was distinguishable from the darkened room as she turned toward him. Cinder stood and unlatched the window, opening it enough for Jack to step inside. As he stepped inside, however, Cinder went back to staring at what she had been previously. Upon taking a closer look, he recognized it as the cloak he had picked up the other day. She was studying it intently, but Jack couldn't figure out why.

"Why aren't you trying to sleep?" Jack spoke up after waiting for her to speak.

"My bandages make everything uncomfortable, and I'm too cold to sleep," was Cinder's excuse. "You're colder than you think."

Jack apologized, knowing he was blushing. He may have acted too quickly on his instincts, considering he forgot all about the wound in her midsection. In truth, he had seen the mass of blood that welled from her abdomen when he brought her and Jamie to the North Pole. How she got a wound like that from a shadow, Jack could only guess, since Cinder was unconscious and probably didn't remember what happened. Jack had asked North if he could help the Yetis patch her up, but North declined. Jack watched helplessly as Phil and the other Yetis lifted Cinder and wrapped her now fragile and freezing body in gauze. Thankfully she had been unconscious, otherwise Jack didn't think he could have had the guts to watch, let alone stand by and do nothing.

"Anyway, I was going to try and sleep with this cloak wrapped around me," Cinder went on. "I found it one day and thought it needed a hood, so I sewed one on. It's a little out of style, of course, but I take what I can get. Not having money does that."

"I had a cloak like that once," Jack opened up, "when I was human. It didn't have a hood, though. Looked a little like that, actually." Was that his cloak? Oh, stop it, Jack. That's ridiculous. "Could I try it on?"

Cinder laughed. It was a delightful sound despite her current situation, but Jack was glad he could hear it again. "I highly doubt this is three hundred years old," she handed it to him, "but sure, go for it. If it makes you a more bearable temperature, I might just let you stay a little longer." That sounded nice, actually. Jack would have loved to stay and talk with her.

Taking the challenge, Jack shouldered his way into the cloak in a memorized, familiar way. He tied the knot loosely around his neck and pulled the shorter outer layer around his chest. Jack was thoroughly surprised that it felt _exactly _like his old cloak, and he suddenly wondered where he had thrown it so long ago. Turning to the mirror, he twirled around laughing. The blue of his more modern sweatshirt was still visible and bright underneath the old, dark brown fabric that hid his thin frame. For a moment, Jack swore his white hair had been replaced with his dark, hazel-colored human hair. Vague memories floated back and he stilled himself, wondering about his family. In order to stop himself from thinking too deeply, he wheeled around to ask Cinder what she thought of it.

But as he looked in her direction, Jack saw that Cinder's eye was wide in fear. It was an odd reaction that caught him off guard and he tried to kneel beside her. When Jack tried, she scrambled away from him and began hyperventilating. Cinder began clutching at her chest and tears formed in her eye. Her face was becoming a shade of green that Jack didn't think was possible. Recognizing the panic attack this time, he backed off and slowly took off the cloak. Jack threw it out of sight and sat down slowly, showing that he was not a threat. Cinder whimpered like a little child and hid her face in her arms. Taking his chance, Jack walked up to her and spoke quietly. But as soon as he spoke, Cinder jolted backward and tried to swat him away. He caught her hand, noting that it was much colder than he had been prepared for, and looked into her desperate emerald eye.

"Cinder, it's okay," he placated softly, "it's still me. It's still Jack Frost. What triggered that?"

Cinder shook her head and appeared to have turned back to normal. "I─ I don't know... This is going to sound so weird, so feel free to disagree, but you just looked so─ so _familiar_. It... I don't know... Uh, thank you." The strange chain of letters that formed off her lips was quivering with uncertainty.

"I've felt something like that before," Jack thought aloud, oblivious to the fact that Cinder heard him. The memory flash he received what seemed like so long ago was suddenly at the forefront of his mind. The village, the fire, the strange images; everything was glaringly terrifying.

"What's that?" Cinder's question brought Jack back into his body.

"It's not like you can really help," Jack was reluctant to tell a girl he'd only known a few days about one of the scariest moments of his life, but something about her made it easier.

"Try me," Cinder walked over to her bed and sat down. Her eye was clear now, calm and listening. Her posture was accepting and she had a thin smile on her lips.

Jack let out a long breath and reiterated the entire story─ without any interruption from her─ as vividly as if it were happening all over again. Cinder's features worsened as he went on, and Jack was scared that he was about to set off another panic attack somehow. But Cinder made no attempt to stop him and seemed to focus all of her attention on him. Jack saw her grab at her eye patch when he mentioned the burly man with the yellow eyes peeking out from behind his shoulder. When Jack finished, Cinder darted her eye around the room in thought.

Clearing her throat, she spoke up. "The cloak... did it look like this one?"

Jack nodded, and Cinder closed her eyes in some sort of realization. Before Jack could ask, he suddenly saw a tear escape down her face once again, and he skipped over to her side and apologized again for scaring her.

Cinder opened her eye, all trace of the previous emotion gone from her features. Then she turned to him and laughed. "If anything, I think you should apologize for that hug. If it weren't for that freezing embrace, I'd be asleep by now."

Jack flushed again. "I thought it would help. I mean─ you looked pretty upset and I've felt the same way before─ not to say your problem isn't important─ it is─ it's just, uh, I wanted to─"

Cinder laughed again at his stammering attempt at an explanation. "It's okay! Really! And it did help..." Cinder bit her lip before continuing. "I think we've had a pretty rocky friendship so far... so... Do you want to go skating tomorrow?"

Jack lit up instantly. She did want to be friends with him! But he still couldn't shake off the guilt that he felt for at least some of her hardships, in particular the trading of her tooth case. "I will," Jack said happily, "but I don't think it'll help... _us_ much."

"What do you mean?" Cinder's brows were knit together.

"I'm going to get your tooth case back from Pitch." Before Cinder could reply, Jack continued, "I can't say we're friends when I'm the one who could have stopped you from giving away your memories in the first place. I should have gone with you at least."

"It's better that you didn't," Cinder said with a surprisingly defensive tone.

"No," Jack looked her in the eye, "no, it's not. I should have done something. So better late than never, right?"

"Jack," Cinder turned so that her body was facing his as they sat side by side on the bed, "Pitch won't do anything with them unless he has a set reason to, which we can assume would be when either party takes action. So until then, we can say that my memories are safe."

"But they aren't," Jack insisted.

"They're both," Cinder corrected. Jack didn't understand. Seeing exactly that expression, Cinder explained, "Look, nothing happens to what we think are my teeth until an action is made. Therefore, once we see the tooth case, it will be in one of several states. In this case, they will either be unscathed or they will be nonexistent."

Jack couldn't follow this at all. "What makes you think that?"

Cinder bit her lip. "Quantum physics make me feel better, I guess. Knowing that there's a possibility that I can get them back helps me cope with it. It doesn't make up for not having them either way, but it's a step."

Jack still wasn't entirely proficient in understanding the redhead, but he nodded anyway. Hoping she wouldn't notice his ineptitude, Jack spoke quickly. "I'm still going to be the one to get you your teeth back. You deserve to know who you are."

"Were," Cinder corrected again.

"Both," Jack looped the conversation, and Cinder laughed with a genuine grin.

"Thank you, Jack." It was the most sincere voice he had ever heard come from her. It was soft, caring, and it had crackled from being spoken barely above a whisper. He didn't know whether or not that was a good thing or if it had other connotations, but the sudden kindness in her voice alerted him. He turned and looked at her directly, realizing a moment too late how close they were. Cinder's features were magnified and the individual freckles on her face were profoundly visible. Their noses brushed and Jack was beside himself. Every thought that had been in his head had taken its leave and he was left with virtually nothing. He'd never been in this situation, as far as he was aware, and he was conflicted as to whether it was supposed to be as awkward as he was making it out to be. Unsure of what to feel, Jack exhaled quickly, which released a breath he hadn't known he was holding back. Cinder reeled away first, and that's when Jack saw his breath had created a layer of frost over her lips before she covered it with her hand. Jack fumbled in an apology, knowing his cheeks were bright red. Cinder also exaggerated her reparations and they just stared at each other a moment. Both of them laughed nervously, which soon evolved into true laughter.

After a few seconds of returned silence, Cinder changed the subject. "So... the Moon talks to you?"

Relieved with the excuse to talk about something else, Jack smiled. "Of course. Well, not me. Only once before, back when I first became Jack Frost. He's the one who gave me my name."

Cinder nodded, but her face spelled out confusion. Was it his imagination or did she actually look frightened? As soon as the emotion was displayed, she deadpanned and talked quickly. "Does he talk to the other Guardians?"

"More often than me? Probably," Jack laughed. "Manny's not really the talkative type. But he warns us whenever trouble is bound to happen."

"If that were the case, you'd think he'd warn you every chance you crafted a snowball," Cinder giggled. It was an odd noise, coming from her, but Jack thought it suited her better than the tears. "Um, what did he say to you? You know what, actually? Don't tell me. It's probably a line I'm not supposed to cross."

She didn't know how right she was. "It was just something about the current situation. He talks in riddles, mostly."

Cinder bit her lip, appearing deep in thought. Jack couldn't be sure what was going on in that redhead's mind, but he knew it wasn't something he could interrupt. Occasionally, she peered back at him with her one jaded eye that spoke of a tiredness of everything. Jack felt he could connect with that feeling. If they could have met in some other way, in some other time, in _any_ _number_ of different situations, they could have been friends and that would have been the end of it. But tossing in one weird puzzle piece after another when one thought the puzzle already had all of its components only compounded the stress. Jack wanted to hug her again, to know that they were both still okay, but something held him back. He made an attempt to put his arm out toward her several times, but after each one he pulled his arm back to his side. She never saw the personal exchanges.

Cinder exhaled loudly and ran her hand through her copper curls. "I think I'd like to try and sleep now."

"Okay," Jack was both relieved and depressed that he'd have to leave her so soon. They were just about to make amends. Could he have worse timing? Not wanting to leave, he lingered by the window. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I think you should worry about yourself right now," Cinder cleared her throat.

But Jack didn't get it. "What are you talking ab─" he stopped when he heard the slight jingle of little bells behind him. Turning around slowly, Jack realized it was Sandy that stood perched on Cinder's window sill. And he didn't look too pleased with Jack.

"Sandy!" Jack pretended to be surprised. "H-hey! What are you doing here, huh?" Jack elbowed the Guardian, hoping he would play along and forget about Jack's obvious lack of rule obedience. But Sandy didn't budge. Instead, golden sand streamed out of his ears in anger. He formed a snowflake, an arrow, and then North's Workshop, rigorously pointing in that direction and boring his eyes into Jack's soul.

"Wait, Sandman!" Cinder spoke up, turning on her knees so that she was facing the golden Guardian. "At least let him go skating with the kids tomorrow, sir. Whatever's-out-there knows they need the fun." Jack wasn't entirely sure, but he thought he saw Cinder's lips quiver. Was she _nervous_ around Sandy? The thought made Jack chuckle to himself. The little guy wasn't dangerous unless you got on his bad side. But as things were right now, Jack thought he was about to be on that side.

Sandy visibly relaxed after a few moments' deliberation. He signed that he could not keep Jack from his duty as a Guardian, but if he was to stay then Cinder could not go with them. Jack's heart fell, but when he looked to Cinder, confusion was written on her face. She turned to Jack and asked what the Sandman was telling her. Jack recited Sandy's words, and Cinder's features also saddened.

"But why, Sandman?" Cinder's words had a hint of desperation. Jack thought about telling her that she could just call him Sandy, but he let it go. "No harm would come of it. I would never hurt them, surely you know that?"

"What if all of Jamie's friends were there as well?" Jack thought having more witnesses would be a good excuse.

Sandy narrowed his eyes at the winter spirit and tapped his foot impatiently. Sighing, the older Guardian signaled that if the other children came, then they would all know that Cinder could see Jack, and that alone would cause more problems than they could deal with at this time. Once again, Cinder looked to Jack. It seemed that the more complex the sentences and signals, the less she was able to comprehend the Sandman. After translating yet again, Cinder had more to say.

"I can ignore him!" The very idea of being ignored by Cinder sounded painful to Jack, although she would still be able to see him. It wasn't like she would just stop being able to see him... "Then it'd be like we never met at all, and it wouldn't be a problem... please?"

Sandy mulled it over for a time. The patience required to receive an answer was almost too much for Jack to bear. He glanced in Cinder's direction anxiously. At one point, they locked eyes (or eye, in Cinder's case) and Jack swore he saw the same desperate hope within her that was kicking against him. Finally, Sandy signed that it was fine, but that he would keep a careful watch on them.

Laughter escaped Jack's lips and he jumped up and behind the golden Guardian and rubbed his fist hard against Sandy's skull. "I knew you'd say yes!" Casting his head upward again to catch Cinder's eye, he saw that she was smiling, quietly happy. Jack smiled uncontrollably. He would have a friend and prove her innocence, too. He was confident.

Perhaps a little too confident.

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**A/N: Tune in next week to see how Cinder and Jack will deal with trying to purposely ignore each other!**


	23. Convincing Lies

**A/N: Hey Guys! I finally finished writing chapter 25! I know I've been writing that chapter for like 3 weeks now, but I really haven't had time and I needed to make the atmosphere just right. Hopefully when we get to that chapter, you'll know why. **

**Anyway, I'll have another chapter added to one of my other stories soon. Maybe even Friday! ;)**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 23** \- _Convincing Lies_

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As Cinder lay in bed after Jack and the Sandman left, she continued to think about her decisions. She knew she faced questioning by the Guardians because of her possible connection to Pitch. At first, Cinder had believed that Pitch took her powers to relieve her of suspicion. Seeing as that either didn't work or it was never Pitch's intention, Cinder didn't see any reason to run anymore. Especially not after she saw the full effect of what Pitch had done to Jamie. He had begun to have panic attacks like her, and it scared her to think that he was now under a contract with Pitch. That was crossing the line for Cinder.

That was when she vowed to get back at Pitch. She vowed then and there to put him away for good. Sure, taking her memories and holding over her the fact that he could destroy them had pushed her closer to the edge, but using Jamie was a small poke too far.

Cinder would tell the Guardians as much as she could for them to trust her, but not enough to reveal what she had been. She knew if they knew the whole story that she would never be allowed to see the light of day again. It was unfair, she understood that much, but she also recognized that there was little she could do about it. If she wanted to help, she was going to have to lie again. That part didn't bother her. It only mattered if she was going to be able to pull it off. With new stressors beginning to weigh her down, she took off the eye patch and closed her eyes. The wound in her abdomen had healed well enough, but the lack of bandages─ for she hated them and ripped them off after Jack left─ made it hard to get comfortable. After minutes of tossing and turning, Cinder finally settled into welcoming unconsciousness.

* * *

After taking the entire morning to clean the house, Cinder gathered Sophie and Jamie into the living room.

"Thank you so much for helping me with cleaning the house!" Cinder knelt down to Sophie's level and gave her a hug. "You were a big help, especially. That really low shelf was impossible!" Sophie giggled sheepishly and Cinder smiled, her nose crinkling in a silly laugh. It was her last day with Sophie for awhile, so she wanted to keep her happy.

"I did this room, thank you very much," Jamie added, lounging on the couch.

"You're welcome," Cinder winked.

"You're more cheerful this morning," Jamie commented.

"That's because," Cinder stood up, ready to deliver some happy news for once, "Jack said he's going to take us all skating today! And you're not allowed to say no," Cinder pointed accusingly at Jamie, "Jack told me you had to bring your friends as well."

At the thought, Jamie smiled, looking physically and emotionally better than he did last night. Perhaps sleep had welcomed both of them with comforting arms and it had made them better. But Cinder knew it was only on the exterior, mainly for Sophie's sake. At least they were both trying; that counted for a lot. "All right," Jamie said as he grabbed the phone, "but won't they know you see Jack?"

"I was hoping we could just pretend that I can't for today," Cinder explained, "this is really for you guys. I don't need to speak with him." That last sentence may have been a small fib. She insisted that it wasn't a fib because she didn't really _need _to speak with him, but a good chat would satiate her curiosities.

Jamie narrowed his eyes and Cinder figured she was caught red-handed, but he said nothing. Instead, he began calling his friends one by one, inviting them to the pond. Who did he call first? Pippa. But he handled the phone call much better than he did talking to her in person. Cinder secretly wondered if they'd gotten any better at talking to each other. Yesterday, when Pippa was over, they were both equally red-faced and stammering constantly. It was cute and nauseating at the same time.

* * *

Once Jamie got their skates, each person carried their own and made it to the pond without a problem. Cinder didn't see Jack anywhere, and wondered if he wouldn't actually show up. Remembering his lopsided smile at the Sandman's approval, however, Cinder had faith that he would appear soon. She knelt down and helped Sophie tie her skates, pushing her onto the ice. Jamie was already out there and waiting for them. Cinder sat on the snow and winced at the unsettling cold. She sometimes forgot she wasn't overbearingly warm anymore, but it had only been a day or two. It could take years to get used to, she figured, and quickly left the thought aside. She was wearing one of Jamie's old jackets as well as his old skates, and pants that she had worn the other day. Her head was underneath a tight black hat with a white puff on the top. The coppery red hair that furled around her face made it hard to see with the hat constricting its movement. Pushing the fly-away hairs back with her thick wool mittens (also borrowed from Jamie), Cinder huffed cold air out of her lungs and tied the strings on the skates.

But before stepping onto the ice, Cinder halted momentarily. She thought about last time and how she fell through, and fear made her heart skip a beat. Realizing her fear had no base in reality anymore, she hopped onto the ice and began flicking her ankles to get her momentum started. Something about this movement was strangely familiar. Cinder never learned to skate, as far as she knew, but Jack had mentioned once that she didn't seem like a beginner. She took it as a compliment and fell into a routine of spins and jumps for a few minutes.

Then Jamie's friends arrived. They all gawked at Cinder's eye patch at first, but she just said it was because of Jamie's dog, a story at which they all laughed. She was introduced to each of them in turn, but she didn't really remember any of their names. Cinder was bad with names. Either way, she was able to skate around with them and show them things that she could do, although she herself didn't know how she executed them. Some asked her to teach them, and she tried her best, but it was usually chalked up to luck because Cinder couldn't articulate the intricate body movements required. Overall, they were having fun. And Jack hadn't even shown up yet.

Cinder was beginning to lose hope when one of the kids─ Cupcake was her name, she thought─ shouted out, "Jack Frost!"

Soon, all the kids were repeating the name, and Cinder turned around last of all to make sure she wasn't obvious. There he was, perched expertly on his staff above them all. _Show off,_ Cinder thought about calling out. Thinking better of it, she simply continued to keep on skating.

But all the kids had gone to Jack. They all wanted to skate with him. A twinge of jealousy emanated from Cinder, but she tried to ignore it. Jack looked so happy around them. And he should be, Cinder believed, because they were his believers. Without them, he wouldn't have become a Guardian. She would let him enjoy it, even if that meant she really wouldn't see him or talk to him for awhile.

Some of the kids whispered about Cinder. They asked Jack if they could try and make her believe in him. She overheard Jack laughing, saying that it was quite alright if she couldn't see me, and that it made her an easy target. Making a mental note, she told herself she'd get him back for anything he did today.

"Hey!" Jack shouted out at one point. "Who wants a snowball fight?"

Cinder was about to speak up, but realized her actions were restricted since Jack wasn't supposed to exist in her mind's eye. Jamie, sensing this, called out in repetition, which allowed Cinder to reply.

"I think I'll sit this one out, guys," Cinder skated over to the other side of the pond with the rocky overhang.

"Me too," Sophie said as she sat down next to Cinder. "I don't like playing these games with them. They're always too rough," she whispered to Cinder, "but don't tell them, okay?"

Cinder laughed at Sophie's innocence. "I promise," she patted Sophie on her back.

They watched the fight from the top of the little cliff for what seemed like an hour. Jack hopped and flew between both teams, constantly playing the secret agent card for both sides. Cinder shook her head on wonder. He really was just an overgrown child, but it was charming. Every so often, he would stop what he was doing and look up to her, still smiling wildly. Cinder would smile back instinctively, but then deadpan as soon as another kid looked in her direction. She shooed Jack away with her eyes, but half the time he didn't get the hint. _He's as thick-skulled as a child, too, _Cinder thought with a chuckle. Trying an experiment, she winked at him as he looked at her, and he practically fell from his embarrassment, getting caught in a horde of kids with many, many more snowballs being pelted at him. Slowly phasing out everything else, Cinder focused in on Jack. His white hair was blown this way and that with his jerky twists in order to avoid snowballs thrown in his direction. His staff never, ever left his hands, yet it never seemed clunky or out of place. Jack was always able to spin and move about as if he were the wind. Cinder smirked at the comparison, knowing the wind was at least in part responsible for his flexibility of movement. Cinder wondered if she ever looked half as graceful.

Cinder had become so focused that she didn't recognize she'd been hit in the face with a snowball until a sudden quiet fell over everyone present. Her vision turned white, cold, and wet. Wiping away the snow, she saw that everyone had deadpanned and was staring at her. Wiping away the snow, she stood up with another snowball in her hand. Jack had taught her well. "Alright, who threw that?"

She knew Jack was smirking, but didn't know if she could really throw the snowball at him. When no one answered, Cinder yelled, "I guess you're all culprits! Look out!" She said as she was about to lob the snow ball somewhere in the hopes that it would hit one of them. However, as Cinder cranked her arm back, panic locked her joints and she could no longer move.

_No... No, no, no!_

Her eyes could still move, and she peered at Jack and then to Jamie. He was also stricken with the same fear and Cinder's stomach fell a thousand feet.

Jack realized startlingly that something was not right. "I found a crack in the ice, guys!" He called out, desperate for an excuse. "I think you should all go home now."

"But can't you fix that, Jack?" the blond boy asked.

Cinder saw that Jack was sweating. She wished she could offer more, like a scream or some form of warning, but her entire body felt like it was encased in hardened wax. "Don't you guys have work to get to?"

At the mention of work, the kids groaned and insisted that they wanted to stay. Jack was rubbing his fingers together and Cinder could tell he was running out of ideas.

"I'll race you all to your homes, and I'll beat all of you!" Then he flew off. _That bastard,_ Cinder thought cleverly. He was going to come back by the time he beat the first kid. Luckily, all of the kids bought it and began running. Sophie stayed by Cinder's side, however, and proceeded to tug at her pant leg.

"What's wrong Cinder?" she tried to pull Cinder's arm, but it was lodged in place and any force against that was painful beyond recognition. "Can't you move?"

But Cinder couldn't answer. The panic was feeding its way through her bloodstream, thickening her veins. It crawled under her skin and clutched her throat with a tremendous strength. Even if she could warn Sophie, Cinder was afraid her voice would fail her due to the raw surplus of anxiety that flooded her system. Her breaths became rapid and shallow, so much so that she didn't think they were her own anymore. All vision became dark and blurry. Glimpsing at Jamie, Cinder was horrified to see that he was reacting in the same way. It was too late. Pitch had them pinned. What were they going to do?

Jack came back and immediately went over to Jamie. He tried to move him and received an agonizing yelp from the teenager. Jack looked to Cinder and saw that she was in the same predicament. The fear in his eyes reflected her own and she wished with all her being that this wasn't happening. She could only hope that Pitch would focus on her rather than the other two. If there was someone who could get away, she wanted it to be them.

A swirling black mass formed around her feet and floated beside her, just outside her peripheral vision. Sophie shrieked and ran down the hill, running into Jack on the ice and hiding behind his legs. Cinder was secretly grateful that Sophie had the sense to run while she still could. Cinder couldn't bear the thought of Pitch laying his ashen hands on her.

"Ah, I see you've got company," Pitch's voice whispered in her numbed ears. Furious, she tried to turn her head and spit in his face, but nothing happened. She was still rooted solidly in place by his shadows. "Perfect..."

"Let them go, Pitch!" Jack's venomous voice carried up to them.

"Oh, well, when you say it like that," Pitch paused, as if truly contemplating. Then, sneering in answer, he whispered "no."

In a burst of anger, Jack shot a bolt of ice in Pitch's direction. Before it happened, Cinder saw in Pitch's body language what he had already planned on doing. Moving his arm in front of his face, his puppet strings pulled Cinder's body in between himself and Jack's ice bolt. If it weren't for the intense restriction of even the simplest movements, Cinder would have screamed out in agony. Jack's ice still hurt, but this attack had more than a simple shock packed into it. The ice hit Cinder full force in the abdomen and she would have fallen over if she had any control over herself. The bandages she had taken off the previous night would have been lovely right about now.

Jack's eyes widened at what he'd done. "Are you crazy, Cinder? Run!"

Suddenly, the muscles surrounding Cinder's face relaxed, allowing her to speak. "I can't move, Jack! Help─" Shadows covered her mouth and she was unable to do anything yet again.

Jack turned to Jamie, but he must have realized that Jamie was under the same kind of control. He stood defensively in front of Jamie and aimed his staff toward Pitch again.

Pitch, noting Jack's decision, let go all control of Cinder's body and let her fall into the snow, barely an inch from the edge of the short cliff. Cinder yelped at the sudden release of energy and grabbed her stomach fitfully. Looking down, she saw that it was coated in thick ice that locked her in place. She was practically immobile even without Pitch's shadows! The crystalline structure began to churn red underneath the surface. Cinder knew she shouldn't have taken off the bandages. If this ice shattered, it may as well be her end.

Cinder peered over to Jack and saw that he was itching to fly over to her in an instant. Cinder shook her head weakly. If he tried to get to her, it would leave Jamie open. Pitch could probably already control his movements as well...

"What are you doing to them?" She heard the winter spirit demand, his voice thick with animosity.

Behind her, Pitch laughed with clear enjoyment at the pain he was causing them. "I'm just testing the newest way to instill _fear_," his voice was unlike anything Cinder had heard before. Something was different about him.

"Fearlings aren't this easy to control!" _Fearlings? What are those?_ "Where'd you even find them?" Jack kept his eyes locked on the Nightmare King.

Pitch didn't even seem surprised that Jack knew what he was doing. It was like Pitch _wanted_ him to know. "At the earth's core, of course," Pitch stated matter-of-fact, "they feed in abundance down there. But not nearly as much as when they feed on one's internal fear."

Cinder didn't understand any of this, but she was still too weak to say anything. As soon as she tried, she coughed and coughed until she thought she saw red stains in the snow. Her vision was blurring and she was utterly useless.

"So the volcano that erupted near the Tooth Palace...?" Jack was putting the pieces together.

"It is true," Pitch smirked, as if he knew something more.

Cinder was finally able to make the connections, and she was furious. Pitch told her to bring up the magma and melt the palace so that the Tooth Fairy would be weakened! There was no mention of fearlings, ever. Now that she realized they were inside her and Jamie, Cinder wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. It was her fault. It was her fault Jamie was in Pitch's grasp and it was her fault that the Tooth Fairy was weakened and it was her fault, it was her fault, it was her fault! Tears welled in her eyes from the physical and emotional pain she was experiencing. Cinder just wanted to die.

"There's no way you did that by yourself," Jack's anger hadn't subsided. "Who's the person with the fire powers? Why are they helping you?"

_Please stop, Jack... it's better that you don't know. _It was beginning to be too much for Cinder. She'd tell him herself if it meant she could be released from her mental prison to be completely at his mercy.

"Only someone with more fearlings than they could bear," was what Pitch offered in answer. He was keeping Cinder a secret, but why? "I've taken care of them, however, so you really shouldn't worry."

"Shouldn't worry?" Jack spat. "They've nearly killed so many children! Even you wouldn't kill children, Pitch!"

_What? Children were in danger? That's impossible! Pitch never... no... _Cinder whimpered feebly. This wasn't like her!

But Jack kept talking. "Whoever you made your ally; you have to make them stop!"

_Stop. Yes, stop asking questions, you idiot! _Thankfully, Pitch didn't answer immediately. Cinder wanted to jump on him and smack him until he stopped thinking, but she could do nothing but groan wearily. Jack heard her and inched toward her. Cinder yearned to scream at him, but she couldn't find the strength. Pitch, upon hearing Cinder's attempts at warnings, kicked her in the side. Cinder yelped again and Jack grimaced angrily. He called out to her, but Cinder didn't hear what he said.

"I can control them as long as they have fearlings in their system," Pitch explained. "Just watch."

At that moment, Cinder was hoisted back into the air. Pitch clutched her eye patch and snapped it off her face, allowing it to fall to the ground harmlessly. He then lifted her farther and thrust her body down onto the ice below. But instead of crashing, she landed in a cat-like fashion and glared at Jack. The ice that had encased her midsection shattered. Small dots of blood began to drop onto the ice. But Cinder wasn't controlling herself. Nothing felt like it was hers. She stood up swiftly and launched herself toward Jack. A fist was formed in her right hand and it swung itself toward Jack's face, but he deflected it, grabbing her wrist and struggling to keep it still. Cinder knew he didn't mean to, but the pressure on her wrist was almost unbearable. Then she saw him staring into her eyes. She knew he was staring at the broken yellow pool that was supposed to be an iris. And she knew he saw the fearlings. She felt them now, swimming in her system and sickening her to the point that she actually wanted to vomit.

Sophie, who was still cowering behind Jack, shrieked and hid her face in his sweatshirt. Cinder's heart broke at the sound, and a tear fell from her good eye. Sophie should never have seen this.

"What's this?" Pitch was suddenly standing beside both of them, but he was staring down at the little blond girl. Cinder realized he was looking at the opal ring Sophie had taken from her. Pitch sneered at the object and was about to grab onto Sophie.

Finding new pools of strength, Cinder felt the shadows' grasp splinter and fall away. Without much of a plan, she shoved her entire weight against the Nightmare King and clung to Sophie. The little girl struggled against the embrace at first, but at some point she must have realized Cinder was still Cinder, and she hid in her arms.

"Take the fearlings out of them. Now," Jack warned Pitch as the Nightmare King stood up from Cinder's blow.

"Oh?" Pitch tilted his head, his eyes flitting toward Cinder and back to Jack. "Do you want her to die?"

Before Jack could react, Cinder pulled Sophie away from her and ran after Pitch again. This time, however, Pitch saw through the attack and disintegrated into the shadows. An ominous laugh echoed around the pond and everyone looked around anxiously. All of a sudden, a weight was lifted from Cinder's shoulders and she dropped onto the ice, all energy was virtually gone. Her blood began to ooze onto the ice. Hearing another thud on the ice, Cinder turned her head with what little effort she could afford and saw that Jamie had also fallen. They were free of Pitch's grasp.

For now.

Jack and Sophie both ran up to Jamie, and Cinder was thankful for that. She didn't want to face either of them for a few moments if she absolutely didn't have to. Ripping off a section of her pants, she tied them together to make a press for her waist. Her shirt was tattered and worn, stiff from Jack's ice, but it was staining quickly. Cinder bit the corner of her jacket and peeled the shirt away from her stomach. With muffled grunts, Cinder prepared herself to look at the damage. The scars from the previous injury were no longer visible. The first injury had healed remarkably fast: the one good thing about being immortal. But the present horizontal gash just above her belly button would definitely take a little longer. It wasn't deep, but it was long and it was bleeding. She would live. A bubble of blood popped and slid down her sides. Before she could get sick, Cinder took the makeshift bandage and wrapped it tightly, applying as much pressure as she could manage.

When they were able to get Jamie to sit up, Sophie turned toward Cinder cautiously. Worry was scrawled in her features and her timid steps circled Cinder.

She was able to push herself up partly. "Sophie?" Cinder's voice cracked. "Sophie, it's okay. I'm sorry I scared you. My eye's just a little broken right now." She didn't mention the twinge of pain coming from her midsection. "But I'm still me, right?"

"No, that's not what scares me," she spoke in honesty. "I..." Sophie's voice broke as she ran into Cinder's body with a hug that rendered Cinder unable to move once again, "I don't want you to die, Cinder!" Tearing up once more, the redhead returned the hug. _I guess I have gone soft... I don't think I mind._

"I won't die, sweetie," Cinder lied, patting Sophie's shivering back.

* * *

Later that night, Mrs. Bennett walked in the doorway with her luggage following behind her. Cinder and Jamie had already calmed Sophie down to the point where she wouldn't say anything about what happened earlier; their mother would never believe them, anyway. Cinder had properly dressed up her wound in the bathroom moments before the mother walked into the house. Jamie had given Cinder a pair of sunglasses to hide her eyes and greeted his mother at the door along with Sophie. Both kids received numerous hugs and thousands more kisses. It was a sight that saddened Cinder, knowing she couldn't remember a time when she had something like this. For all she knew, she might never have had anything close to this. It was a thought that made Cinder believe it was better not to know.

Mrs. Bennett walked over to Cinder and handed her a small but thick envelope. "Hello, dear. I'm sure things went well while I was gone? That should cover it, I think. How were they? Did they act up at all? Any trouble?"

"They were fine, Mrs. Bennett," Cinder smiled, "I'm surprised you've got such well-behaved children. If anything, I think they've taken care of me!" Cinder fingered the envelope, knowing there was a lot of money in it. Her conscience grew heavier by the second, and she put it on the counter. "I really can't accept this."

"Oh, don't be silly! Of course you can. You took care of the house for nearly a week and I didn't get one emergency call! Not even a call about Sophie crying!" Mrs. Bennett took the liberty of putting the envelope directly in Cinder's bag as she was talking. Before Cinder could say anything, Sophie broke into the conversation.

"Cinder's really great, mommy!" Sophie ran over and tugged at Cinder's sleeve. "Can she stay?"

Mrs. Bennett blinked in surprise and looked to Cinder. "Well, that's fine with me. But don't you have to check in at home, dear?"

"I can come back in a few days, if that's alright," although saying this, Cinder was just as surprised. She didn't think Sophie was going to be so straightforward about making her stay. It was going to be harder to say goodbye than she thought. "And perhaps I could stay for awhile on some occasions?"

Sophie hugged Cinder tightly and begged with her eyes wide. Mrs. Bennett must have had a soft spot, because she agreed. "Just make sure to come by as they're getting out of school or on the weekends. Of course, you can always make the guest bedroom your temporary home." The gesture made Cinder's heart heavier.

Once everything was settled and Cinder had all of her stuff put back in her old leather bag, she walked out the door. Sophie clung to her left leg, not a single trace of fear left in her features, but a ton of sadness. Cinder hugged Sophie for a long time. She let another human's warmth saturate her with feelings she swore to keep hidden forever. If she wasn't immortal, Cinder believed that she would have moved in with them indefinitely. But knowing the cycle of life for others all too well, Cinder knew she would just be dragging out the inevitable. Promising to return, she kissed Sophie's forehead and gently pushed her back into the house. When the door closed, Cinder stood and began walking down to the sidewalk.

After a few blocks, Jack showed up beside her, matching her step for step. The silence between them was thick. They both knew what was to happen next. Cinder didn't know what to say to him, and it seemed Jack felt the same. She avoided his eyes and stared at her feet, still stuck in a old pair of boots she borrowed from Jamie. He probably wouldn't see them for a long time. Jack's feet were bare, as always, and padding lightly on the snowy sidewalk. He walked slow, matching her pace. Left foot, right foot, together with hers. If there was ever a time when their paths wouldn't secretly be at war, or at war at all, it would be now. In this moment, they knew all that they needed to know, understood all that needed to be understood. It wasn't everything, and might never be everything, but it was a tender, momentary solace from the grip of reality. She cherished it for as long as she could, until a thought suddenly popped into her head.

"Where the hell was Sandman?" was the only question she could ask, her voice close to breaking. "He was supposed to be watching over us! Why didn't he do anything?"

"I had the same questions," Jack admitted cautiously, as if he were afraid to speak. But the bonding was over. "After the incident I went to go and find him. I think he returned to the Pole, or to his job. If he was weakened, it'd be a repetition of four years ago. We can't let that happen again."

Cinder couldn't be angry this time. She knew the responsibilities of the Guardians, and that they couldn't always be there to protect her or the Bennett children. The safety of the whole over the safety of a few was an accurate description. It wasn't fair, but Cinder knew it was right. "I understand."

"Are you really confident that you'll return to their house in a few days?"

So he had been listening to her goodbyes. Cinder bit her lip. "No, but it's better to give them some hope after all they've been through in the past few days, especially if it's been my fault. It's my way of apology."

They turned across the road and headed into the forest. The bare trees were blanketed with thick snow. Every so often, tiny, powdery specks of snowflakes would float down from an unsteady branch. Cinder noticed they followed Jack, sticking to his sweatshirt if they got close enough. Without filtering her mind in this moment, Cinder wished she could be a snowflake, small and insignificant, but nonetheless drawn to ethereal power. Shaking her head, Cinder wasn't quite sure why she had thought that. She kept her eyes staring in front of her. When they were far enough from the town, Jack took out a globe portal and whispered into it before tossing it on the ground.

"Cinder?" His voice was quiet as he turned to look at her.

Cinder glanced at him in answer. His blue eyes─ they were still _too blue_, Cinder thought, but at least now she knew why─ sympathized with and criticized her simultaneously. He seemed to actively search out an answer, but when he didn't find one, he proceeded.

"I'm sorry about my ice," Jack looked down to where her shirt clung to the bandage wraps underneath.

Cinder smirked. "This? 'Tis but a scratch!" She was trying to keep the mood light. Life had become so dark so quickly that Cinder wouldn't be able to cope with it if she didn't alleviate some stress. But there was no raising this mood above the thick ice.

Jack smiled weakly, but as soon as he did it was gone. "And... one more thing," Jack looked into the portal for a moment. Whatever it was, it weighed on him as heavily as her heart felt. "Are you the one who's been setting the fires? Be completely honest with me."

Cinder inhaled with an answer ready on her lips. But she quivered for a moment before deciding to speak.

"No, I'm not." The conviction in her voice was enough for Jack to nod quietly.

_I'm not that person anymore._

* * *

**A/N: Feigned innocence is bliss.**


	24. Coming to Terms

**A/N: Yeah... you know how I said I'd have another chapter to one of my stories up soon? I guess that has turned into a lie, because I've gotten nowhere! The next chapters for this and my other two/three stories are all about half-done/barely started. I'm really sorry! ****On the other hand, I know exactly where I want all of them to go, and I've already thought up specific scenes for everything. I'm super excited about all of them.**

**Oh, and instead of doing drawings for other characters like I said I would, I just drew Cinder again, but as she would look after the events of the story. I made it into a character model card and it is up on my profile as a link. Please check it out! I had a lot of fun drawing and putting effort into giving you an idea about this character (just to make it easier to read and imagine and such).**

**And all of this while I was dreadfully sick and when I should be studying for finals! :D**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my rambling. Now please read, review, and enjoy Chapter 24! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 24** \- _Coming to Terms_

* * *

The woods were still, but the soft rustling of the open portal played with Jack's hair. Cinder said that she wasn't the fire spirit. That shouldn't have been convincing. Perhaps it wasn't. Jack couldn't be sure. He wanted desperately to believe her, to believe that she was a decent, normal human being. But nothing made a whole lot of sense and he had to take her words with a grain of salt despite the sincerity and determination in her voice. Keeping his head down, he walked through the portal without looking to see if Cinder was following. He already knew that she had. What other choice was there?

They stepped into the great hall that was the Workshop. The high ceilings held together by thick, climbable beams smelled of Yule logs with a hint of pine and vanilla. If times were more cheerful, Jack would have taken a deep breath of appreciation. The permanent holiday decorations brightened the place almost mockingly so. Jack hated the depressed atmosphere and conjured some snow in his hand opposite his staff. Smirking, he tossed it behind him and heard a very unladylike grunt as the snowball made contact. He turned around thinking he would see the beginning of a playful banter. Instead, Cinder wiped the snow─ unlike last time this snow hadn't melted─ off her face and smoothed her hair down. Jack noticed her shoulders shiver slightly, another sign that she was thankfully human.

"Really, Frost?" Cinder was partially annoyed, but a coy smile began to appear on her lips.

Jack tried to look innocent. "Aw, come on, you should've seen that coming."

"You're right," Cinder sighed, "it was getting too serious around here. It's not like the Sandman just disappeared for no reason and I'm getting interrogated soon."

"If it helps," Jack hoped, "it wasn't my idea."

"Sandman disappearing or my detainment?" Sarcasm was layered thickly on her tongue.

"You can call him Sandy," Jack corrected her.

"Whatever," Cinder looked away apathetically.

Jack narrowed his eyes and discreetly layered the next few floorboards with thin but slippery ice. That would show her. He hoped it might even make her laugh. As they walked forward, he was met with the delightful thud of Cinder's behind on the ground. Jack chuckled and kept walking, acting like it hadn't been him. But before he stepped a second pace, he felt a sudden tug on the back of his sweatshirt that yanked him downward. Jack fell backward and his head smacked against the floor. That was going to leave a bump.

Cinder's laughter jaunted at him. He tilted his head up and saw that she was leaning over him, still sitting on the floor. Their faces were as close as the previous night. This time, he may have been a little more comfortable with the closeness. Her sunglasses had gotten knocked off in the fall and now her eyes peered at him mischievously. It would have been a happier sight if the broken yellow glare of her eye wasn't boring into him. The grotesqueness of her gaze seemed unreal. He knew that she couldn't change anything about it, but it still unsettled him. Nonetheless, her features were brightened, which was the effect he had been aiming to achieve. He rolled himself over into a sitting position level with Cinder.

"Now, was that very nice?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Cinder played the same innocent card he had a moment ago. "It's only funny when it happens to someone else, isn't it?"

"If you're so good at making things fun, maybe you should take my job," Jack used his staff to stand up and lent a hand to Cinder.

"Yeah, thanks, but no thanks," Cinder took his hand without hesitation. Her hand was relatively cold, which still surprised him. But what surprised him more was the sudden ease to which they were beginning to be accustomed. This felt natural. Hadn't he only known her a few days? "I'm too selective."

"I've noticed," Jack remarked. Cinder swung at him with a false sneer, obviously meaning to miss him. Jack ducked out of reach and walked onward. Yeah, this felt too natural. "We've got to find the others."

"Can't be too hard," Cinder looked around, astonished at the immensity that was the North Pole, "this place can't be that big."

"Ten floors, twenty corridors, _but_... only one elevator," a thick Russian voice bellowed from the other side of a door. The door opened and North, Bunny and Tooth filed into the room. They must have been talking in North's private workshop previously. "Is not too bad. Is very spacious!"

"Where's Sandy?" Bunny asked, not seeing the golden Guardian anywhere.

The feeling in Jack's stomach worsened. "He didn't come back here?"

"Do ya see 'im here, mate?" Bunny retorted.

"Pitch attacked again," Cinder said, straight to the point. "I was skating with the kids when he showed up. Jack came by to help and said that Sandy should have been there, too."

That alerted the Guardians. "Why'd you bring her here so soon?" Tooth asked Jack worriedly.

Before Jack could answer, Cinder did so for him. "Their mother came back early. I..."

"She kept them safe," Jack stepped in. Cinder elbowed him and glared. She looked like she was about to whisper something to him, but thought better of it and simply turned her head away.

"Well, that's all very nice, but that doesn't excuse her," Bunny said.

"Jack, we will discuss events later," North waved him off, "stay at Pole. We will be done shortly." North waved Cinder forward and she obliged. Jack tried to see some sort of concern in Cinder's face, but there was no emotion. She was set in stone in whatever decision she had made. Jack hoped it was the right one.

They all walked out of the hall, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts. It annoyed him that he couldn't be present for Cinder's questioning. Subjecting the poor girl to so much at once seemed unfair. At the same time, he understood the importance of keeping her under a watchful eye for the moment. Pitch could control her, and he clearly didn't care if he hurt her. Jack still berated himself for shooting ice at Cinder on accident. It had hit her where her bandages had been placed after the yetis had attended to her wounds. Then Pitch continued to use her and crash her onto the ice below. The pained expressions that escaped Cinder's in weakened features infuriated Jack. He couldn't do anything to help, and he hadn't felt this useless since Pitch snapped his staff in two.

Of course, while it had been happening, Jamie had also been unable to move. Pitch never tried to control Jamie more than was necessary, though. If fact, Jack was fairly certain that Pitch hadn't done anything to Jamie except keep him still. It demonstrated that Pitch knew exactly what would trigger Jack. Whatever the Nightmare King was planning, Jack wanted to keep Jamie and Cinder safe. But with the fearlings swirling within them, Jack was afraid they may not be completely themselves. It sickened him, thinking Pitch was using them for his personal gain. Jack still couldn't bring himself to believe that Cinder would ever side with the Nightmare King. Perhaps he was simply drawing upon his own experience of denying Pitch what he wanted, but Jack didn't care.

Then Jack remembered something: Cinder's scar. She said it had happened a long time ago, perhaps when she was little. Jack bet that it had something to do with the fearlings within her. _I wonder if there's a way to get rid of the fearlings... Pitch has had them for hundreds of years..._

Jack didn't want to think any further about the subject.

After a few somber moments, Jack heard a tapping noise coming from above. Glancing up, he was shocked to see Sandy pounding his tiny little fists against the glass. Throwing himself upward, Jack hooked the window lock with his staff and pushed it open. Jack landed on top of the globe as Sandy floated into the room behind him.

"Sandy!" Jack was surprised and relieved. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"

Sandy signaled that a giant uproar of nightmares had occurred farther to the west. The smaller Guardian looked anxious as his eyes darted around the room restlessly. He asked where the others were.

"They're questioning Cinder now," Jack answered, "you should probably join them."

Sandy shook his head. Since he had been with Jack watching over Cinder, it would be inappropriate for him to engage as well. Sandy would have biased judgment. He acknowledged to Jack that it seemed unlikely Cinder was actively working with Pitch, but that didn't mean she hadn't in the past. It was also possible that she may know something that would help them. Jack ached to say that Cinder told him she wasn't the fire spirit, but he knew it would be pointless. The word of the accused meant very little to anyone.

"Pitch attacked while you were gone," Jack informed Sandy.

The Sandman's face widened in immediate shock, and thousands of golden sand images flashed above his head in rapid succession.

"Whoa," Jack put up his hands, "slow down, slow down!" Jack proceeded to tell the Sandman all that had happened with as much detail as he could stomach. Cinder's pained face clouded his mind and it hurt to think about her longer than necessary.

Sandy nodded urgently to every word. His features darkened at the mention of Pitch's direct control over Cinder. He asked Jack if he'd kept a close eye on her. She herself may not be a danger, but if Pitch could do what he did then, they had to watch her carefully. Keeping her at the North Pole seemed perilous to Sandy.

Before Jack could say anything, the double doors opened and the other Guardians returned. Jack turned around immediately, searching their numbers for the redhead. Not seeing her, Jack's fear spiked.

"Where's Cinder?" Jack couldn't stop himself from asking.

"We've decided it best to keep her safe here," North looked with kind eyes at the winter spirit's concern, "for few days only. Just to see what Pitch will do next. There is no doubt he knows she is here. Sandy, good to see you have returned to us," North turned to the golden Guardian, "what kept you?"

Sandy relayed the story about the rising amounts of powerful nightmares in the west that occurred around the time of Pitch's attack. Bunny's ears piqued at the mention of the attack and he traded glances with Tooth furtively. Tooth's eyes were brimmed with consternation. North stroked his long beard in contemplation.

"Yes, yes," North said after awhile, "Cinder told us about what happened. Jack," North tapped the top of Jack's staff, "be careful with that staff."

"I didn't know it was going to hit her!" Jack defended himself indignantly.

"We know you didn't mean to, Jack," Tooth fluttered over to him, "but weakening her to Pitch's attacks might do more harm than good."

"To her or to your guys' plans?" The venom slipped into Jack's voice despite the best of his ability to hold his tongue.

"No matter," North conveniently interrupted, "if Pitch does come to get her, then she is more than chess piece, no? Queen has more say than pawn."

"An' if he doesn't come to get her," Bunny added, "it's safe to let her help us."

"So how long are you keeping her locked up?" Jack asked.

"She isn't locked up, Jack," Tooth answered for them, "she's in one of the guest rooms." _Oh, how nice of you guys, _Jack thought bitterly, _but that doesn't answer my question_. He knew that they wouldn't, so he remained silent and guarded.

"Bunny," North instructed after a moment, "go to your post now."

"Aye," Bunny hopped back down the hallway and disappeared. He was probably assigned to guard Cinder's room so that she wouldn't escape. Somehow, Jack didn't doubt that she'd try. She seemed to like leaving places at unsuspecting times. The thought made Jack smirk vaguely.

The others went about, discussing the latest uprising of fear. It was hard to pinpoint the details, and Jack didn't particularly care to listen. He climbed back onto the top of the globe and lay back so that he was flat against the top of the globe. His head hung slightly upside down and he closed his eyes for awhile. The bickering of the Guardians was a sound he had grown accustomed to, and it lulled him into a state of little alertness. It wasn't until Tooth whispered his name that Jack opened his eyes again. Her face was upside down and her lips were drawn tight. She raised an eyebrow and waited until Jack spun himself around.

"Are you guys done arguing already?" Jack asked sarcastically. "Can I talk to Cinder now?"

"There's something about her, Jack," Tooth fiddled with the pendant in her fingertips. Jack knew she liked the gift. Perhaps she though she owed him something. But Jack wouldn't let her repay a present. It had been meant as an apology, after all. But instead of remaining silent, Tooth found the strength to continue speaking, "she shouldn't have forgotten about her childhood without a traumatic experience. The amnesia has to be coming from something. You said that Pitch had her teeth, correct?"

"Yeah," Jack wasn't sure if he should tell her he planned on getting them back.

"I need you to get them back for me," Tooth instructed, "and for her."

Jack was surprised. _Can Tooth read minds?_ Tooth was giving him permission to go against the Guardians? There must have been some other reason for Tooth to want them. But there was something he needed to know. "Do you think Pitch has a plan for her teeth?"

"It's clear that he doesn't need the teeth to control her," Tooth ascertained, "but if he destroyed her memories, there would be nothing stopping Pitch from keeping Cinder under his control forever. She'd be lost, Jack. She wouldn't be Cinder anymore."

Jack figured as much, but it still felt like a massive punch to his gut. He saw that Tooth still wanted to say more, so he urged her to go on.

"Even if she is the fire spirit─ or rather, if Pitch is somehow giving her the powers of fire─ I can't allow someone to lose their memories so easily. It's my job to protect them, Jack. But I feel that, if we were to give her memories back to her, maybe she'd be a different person. I've tried to tell the others about this, but they wouldn't listen."

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know about a different person, but she would definitely be stronger against his control if she had her memories, right?"

Tooth bit her lip. "I think so."

"It's worth a shot, then!" Jack stood up, causing Tooth to beam with hope. She always looked so beautiful when her hopes were high. "I'll do it, Tooth. But I still want to talk to her. She should know about this."

Tooth looked away. "I know you feel that way, Jack, but..." she looked around quickly to see that the other Guardians were still in deep conversation. Tooth tugged on his sweatshirt and pulled his ear close to her lips. She whispered, "I take watch over Cinder's room tomorrow night. If you want to speak with her, I'll let you do so then."

Jack looked at her and smirked. "What's with the change of heart?"

"Cinder really does care about Jamie and Sophie," Tooth admitted, "she was almost in tears when the subject was brought up."

"Aw, man! I would've loved to see that!" Jack snapped his fingers in disappointment. "I guess I can't pick on her about it, can I?"

Tooth giggled. "You haven't ever changed, Jack."

The comment made Jack smile. He was still himself. He only hoped that Cinder would remain the same way...

"So how is Jamie doing?" Tooth asked.

Jack told her about talking to Cinder despite being explicitly told not to by Sandy, and that Jamie had come downstairs and attacked him, calling him a nightmare. He also mentioned the fearling he saw in Jamie's eyes, both that time and the next day when they were skating. Tooth looked a little upset that Jack had disobeyed orders again, but she said that she was glad Jack had told her everything. For once, no one was yelling at him, and that made Jack feel respected to some degree.

"So that was what Pitch did to Jamie..." Tooth's eyebrows furrowed downward.

Jack nodded. Now he needed to kill time until tomorrow night. Hopefully he could get some answers to clear up the thick cloud that hung around Cinder. He told Tooth that he was going to go back to Burgess and that he would be back to talk to Cinder. Tooth commended him and asked if he could say hi to the kids for her, to which Jack agreed he would.

Taking his leave before the others could notice, Jack leapt out of the window and flew in the brisk North Pole air. He still had several globe portals, but he didn't want to use them. The breath he took infused his blood with sharp determinism and he called to the wind. Picking up speed, Jack was lifted up into the clouds. He spread his arms and willed snow to fall from the heavens. The power spilled from his fingertips eagerly. The catharsis began and Jack closed his eyes, allowing the wind to carry him back to Burgess. The wind caressed his face and tugged at his hair, calming him down. The ride would be over in a few hours and Jack let himself relapse into a lull where all thoughts vanished from his mind in serene silence.

Jack broke from his slumber as he reached Burgess on Monday morning. It was lightly snowing out and each snowflake was tiny and melted soon after touching the ground. Wherever he stepped, the frost clambered outward with no effort on his part. He couldn't attend to this now, however. Jack needed to know how Jamie and Sophie were getting along in the aftermath.

Upon reaching Jamie's window, however, Jack remembered that they had school and probably wouldn't be home. Nonetheless, Jack peered through the glass and saw a lump amassed under Jamie's covers. Jack tapped his staff repetitively until the mass moved and a sleepy mess of brown hair peered in his direction. Laughing at him, Jack secretly wondered if Jamie still thought he was a nightmare. The boy walked over to the window with his comforter draped around his shoulders. It dragged off the bed and brought several sheets with him, creating a messy trail. Jamie didn't look up until after he had opened the window and Jack let himself inside the room and greeted Jamie with a hand across his shoulders.

But when Jamie did look up, Jack regretted stepping so close. The young boy's wild eyes were no longer the light brown Jack remembered them to be. The same sickly yellow replaced them and his face was twisted in a gory mix of fear and mistrust. Jamie's hands gripped at the front of Jack's sweatshirt and shoved the winter spirit to the ground. Jamie backed up against the wall with ragged gasps of breath that forced him to clutch his hair tightly. His torso bent forward at a defensive angle and he couldn't formulate any words. It reminded Jack much of Cinder's panic attacks.

Jack got up slowly from the ground and set his staff down. "It's okay, Jamie," he placated slowly, "it's okay. It's me, Jack. I'm not here to hurt you, and you're not going to hurt anyone."

Jamie's head snapped up toward Jack and an animalistic growl escaped his lips. "You killed them!"

"What?" Jack stopped moving for fear of pushing Jamie's humanity over the edge. He was crouched on the ground with a hand held up toward Jamie. The words were familiar to Jack: his human self had said them in his nightmare the other night, the night Jamie was rescued. But Jamie couldn't know any of that, surely?

"You're a demon," Jamie's voice continued, "you─ you killed them!"

"Jamie, come on, kiddo," Jack took a tentative step forward, "I haven't killed anyone, I promise." At least, he was partially sure. Jack was getting confused as to why Jamie was repeated his nightmare. Also very scared, but Jack was determined not to show that. "You've had a bad dream. You're late for school. I'm here to see how you're doing. Which might have been a bad idea, I'll admit."

The boy seemed to register parts of Jack's words, because the eyes flickered back to brown for a moment. Jamie slumped down to the ground, but kept his distance from Jack. Step by step.

"Jamie," Jack rubbed his fingers together, trying to think of some solution, "Jamie. You remember the night I made it snow in your room? That was me. Jack Frost. I helped you believe in the Guardians again. And you─ _you_─ defeated Pitch. You can defeat him again, Jamie. Just believe in me, okay?"

Jamie's eyes darted around Jack's face and something clicked. His eyes, now completely brown, calmed and his shoulders drooped, relieved of some pressure. "Jack? Jack! Oh no, what did I do?"

"Hey, hey," Jack stood up, glad that Jamie was alright, even if only for the moment, "calm down. You didn't do anything."

"You sure?" Jamie was reluctant to take a step forward. By the time he did, however, his head swung around to his clock. "Shoot, I'm late for school!"

"I think your mom knew that, or she would have woken you up," Jack reasoned. "She might have thought you were sick."

"I remember her coming in and saying that Sophie wasn't going either," Jamie seemed to remember some things piece by piece. "It was something about missing Cinder."

Jack frowned. This wasn't good news. None of it was. "Well, you can spend the day with me!" He tried to cheer up with a smile on his face. It felt stretched and strained, but Jamie was led into it anyway.

"But I told Pippa I'd be there today," Jamie said.

"Why's that?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Something between you two? Liiiiiike, a kiss?" Jack winked mischievously.

Jamie bit his tongue and color rose to his cheeks. "Y-yeah... I... asked her out... the other day. While Cinder went and picked up Sophie, Pippa came over and we talked..."

"And kissed," Jack pressed further, a wicked smile curling on his lips.

"Okay, okay! And we kissed!" Jamie's defenses broke down and his cheeks were alarmingly red. "How did you know?!"

"I knew it!" Jack laughed, ignoring Jamie's question. "I called it! Didn't even need Cupid!" Jack crossed his arms smugly. Jamie elbowed Jack playfully as he plodded over to the closet and got dressed. Jack was a little taken aback by Jamie's lack of care, and by how much Jamie had grown in four years.

"Yeah, yeah," Jamie called over his bare shoulder, "rub it in, Frost."

"Could you say that when you're not half-naked?" Jack twirled his staff. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jamie roll his eyes and ignore the winter spirit.

"Have you talked to Cinder since she left? You know where she is?" Jamie asked when he was done getting dressed. He wore a pair of dark jeans and donned the hockey shirt Jack had given him.

"Why─ why do you ask?" Jack stuttered, caught off guard.

"You don't just walk away from someone like her who can see the Guardians."

Jack rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of an answer. _I'm sick of lying to him._ "She's been suspected of being the fire spirit that's burned down some villages," he said in a nonchalant manner.

"What? A fire spirit?" Jamie was taken aback. "How do they figure that? She's seen by everyone, even the adults. Cinder's not even─ wait... What village fires?"

"Remember the Northern Lights that shined on New Years?" Jack winced as the recognition dawned on Jamie.

"Villages were burned down? That doesn't sound like Guardian work," Jamie's eyebrows were turned downward dubiously.

"Children were involved. It turned out the fire spirit was using their fear of the fire to fuel Pitch's escape. And Cinder has some resemblances." A lot of resemblances, actually, as Jack began to piece it together. It was almost uncanny, and Jack was finding it hard to suppress the doubt. "So they took her to the North Pole and questioned her."

"And?" Jamie was concerned now.

"I don't know," Jack shrugged helplessly, "they won't let me talk to her. And they're not going to say anything to the newbie." Jack didn't believe he could still be a newbie after four years, but hundreds have gone by for the others. Some of them were Guardians long before he became Jack Frost, come to think of it. Jack let the thought go and waited on Jamie's next remarks.

"There's no way," Jamie shook his head, "Cinder's no spirit."

"We know that much now," Jack added.

"Then how could she be a fire spirit?"

"Well... they believe she's under Pitch's control... through fearlings..." Jack let Jamie figure out the rest. Jamie was so overwhelmed that he fell into his desk chair and stared off to some unknown vantage point.

"You know," Jamie spoke up on a different subject, "I think I saw Cinder light the stove. The first morning she was here."

"Well, that _is_ how you get the stove to work," Jack joked.

Jamie laughed at first, but then stopped. "No, like, she _lit_ it. With just her _fingers_. Snap! And then it was lit. It was like she didn't know how to turn it on normally." Like she wasn't from their time...

Jack wasn't sure if he believed the kid. "Are you sure you're not just going crazy?"

"Hey!" Jamie narrowed his eyes. "It's true! I saw it! She tried to take a lighter out from inside her sleeve, but there's no way she could have pulled that off. I'm telling you, I _saw _it!"

Jack closed his eyes and slowly tilted his head back. That wasn't the answer that he was hoping for, and Jamie probably realized that as well. A silence settled upon the room and after a moment he heard Jamie sigh quietly.

"Hey, Jack? Do I... do I have fearlings in me, too? Am I under Pitch's control?"

"I don't know," Jack admitted finally, the half lie still sour on his tongue. He wasn't about to tell his first believer that he was infested with one fearling (at least Jack hoped it was only one), so he continued, "but whatever is going on, I'm going to fix it, okay? Don't you worry about a thing! Just get some rest, alright kiddo?"

Jamie accepted reluctantly and crawled back into bed. "I got dressed for nothing," he mumbled as he pulled the covers back over his head.

Jack chuckled and was about to leave the room through the window when something occurred to him. Sophie was taking Cinder's absence badly, and he figured perhaps he could alleviate some of the sadness. Glancing in Jamie's direction, Jack tiptoed to his door and snuck out. He walked down the hall and stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall. The one opposite Sophie's had been Cinder's. Jack debated walking into her old room, but he knew that it would be empty and useless. He slowly cracked the door open, Jack looked around to find that Mrs. Bennett had cleaned the room up considerably. There was a floor again! Stepping inside, Jack's eyes were drawn to the only motion in the room.

Sophie was tossing and turning fitfully in her sleep, mumbling and whining disconcertingly. Cinder's name was heard intermittently. As Jack made his way toward the little blond girl, he saw dried tear trails streaked down her cheeks. Oh, how he wished he could grant lovely, happy dreams to her like the Sandman could. Settling on the fact that he could not do so, he sat back and began focusing his magic into the palm of one hand and the fingertips of the other. Calling forth Cinder's smiling face he had seen precious few times, he sculpted an ice replica of Cinder and placed it upon Sophie's nightstand. That would make her happy, right?

That's when he saw Cinder's ring snugly fitted around Sophie's finger. Jack's eyes widened in realization and his face closed in. His cold wasn't lost on the unconscious Sophie, who twisted around in another attempt to get comfortable and almost hit Jack in the nose. Holding his breath, Jack tried again. His long fingers tapped the ring and the green and blue specks danced as they made contact. Jack's fingers retracted instantly, oddly scared that he might wake the girl, but itched to try again. Picking her hand up gently, Jack held onto the ring and slowly slid it off the little girl's finger. He played with it in his hands for awhile, and all that time the specks and shimmers of green and blue never stopped dancing. That's when he closed his fist and brought it to his forehead.

It was definitely Cinder's ring. He had seen it shining like that in the bathtub on the first night they met. He saw it on the fire spirit that time it gloated. Confident in the matter, Jack heaved silently.

Cinder lied to him.

Cinder was the fire spirit.

And Cinder was endangering not only the Guardians but the children of the world.

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**A/N: Is it starting to clear up a little? Is it starting to get confusing? Is it still confusing? If yes to all, perfect! If yes to at least one, also perfect!**

**Have a nice day and wish me luck on finals next week! (You'll still get the next chapter on schedule.)**


	25. Inquisition

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers! Just in case you also read my Zombie!AU, _The Things No One Knows_, I have uploaded the real second chapter! It wasn't cooperating with me for some reason, but I got it to update correctly yesterday. So if you were like the guest named "Sparky" that noticed this, I've fixed it!**

**I think this was one of my favorite chapters to write for this story, but it was also one of the hardest. I don't know quite what that says about me. Either way, thanks for all of the reviews/favs/follows so far! I'm so happy to see that people are enjoying my work!**

**So without further ado, please read, enjoy, and review! :) (I made it rhyme, hehehe)**

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**Chapter 25** \- _Inquisition_

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_Cinder walked in file behind North, flanked by the Easter Bunny on her right and the Tooth Fairy on her left. The former seemed rigid, guarded, and skeptical. The latter looked cautious, uncertain, and worrisome. No one walked behind her. She could have run, she could have fought. But that was not why she was here. To atone for everything she could not admit to, and without releasing the truth, Cinder had to begin her battle against a new enemy. The one inside her._

_They walked into a room─ there were many, many rooms in the workshop, and many looked exactly the same to Cinder─ and stood to the side to reveal an office-like space. The only difference was that it wasn't really an office. Cinder wasn't sure what to make of the room. The desk was simple and wooden. It was honestly more like a table than a desk. The legs had intricate carvings, the folds in the wood grains looking as natural as ever. She wondered if North carved this desk. She'd seen some of the toys he'd made. They were truly amazing. The chair was simple, but upholstered with red and gold diamond patterns weaving around the back and over the arms. The chair's arms were matched with the wood of the table and had its own swirling patterns. It wouldn't surprise her if he had made this just for the occasion. It was something nonthreatening and potentially charming. Cinder walked forward and peered out the window through squinted eyes. Even with the curtains mostly drawn, the smallest bit of sunlight found its crosshairs upon her figure. North must have had an inkling about her powers, because the tiniest ray felt like a burst of fire on her face. Others would have been upset with the sun in their eyes, but Cinder relished the warmth. It felt good on her broken eye, as if it was healing the sickly yellow. Feeling more at ease, she turned toward the Guardians and sat down, waiting patiently._

_"Are you the fire spirit?" North's voice began. Cinder noticed that there were no other chairs in the room. Their glances were not frightening. Cinder could tell that they didn't interrogate often. They didn't want to do so either; their postures were forgiving and features fitful._

_"I am not," Cinder stated simply. What would she say otherwise? _Yes, I burned down villages. I even burned down cities in my prime. But I am tired now, how about a drink? _Cinder fought the urge to scoff and leaned back in the chair._

_"Now why ya askin' her upfront?" asked Bunny. "No one would say 'yes' when it's asked like that. Ya ever been able to make fire, sheila?" He crossed his arms as he looked at her. Despite the tough demeanor, Cinder could tell Bunny didn't want to do this. He wanted answers, but he didn't want to be the bad guy. She felt like she could sympathize with that._

_"Campfires, mostly," Cinder said with a straight face, "I can make a mean smore." She wondered if she could break their thin veneer of seriousness. _

_"We need direct answers, Cinder," North's calm voice ignored Bunny's protests. "Pitch could be doing something terrible."_

_Cinder blinked slowly and exhaled. "I wouldn't know if I could. That would have been under Pitch's control."_

_"So you admit to being under Pitch's control?" Tooth looked as if she had expected as much. And yet, something in her voice seemed to think, or know, something entirely different. Something that Cinder didn't even know. Could she turn this into her own investigation?_

_"I don't remember some times, some events," Cinder added, "I wouldn't be surprised if he had me under a spell during those times."_

_"How did you get under his control?" Bunny asked. Ah, the grand question to which even Cinder didn't have the exact answer._

_"I don't know exactly, but I don't remember anything before I was eighteen." The bitter truth lodged in her throat as she managed the last of her words to be spoken. This was to help her get her memories back. This was necessary. She had to keep telling herself such things or she would never gain ground._

_"And how old are you, sweetie?" So Tooth was the Good Cop, hmm? Cinder could see that. The fairy was sweet and beautiful, but Cinder had a gut feeling that she could be vicious, if she wanted to be. Perhaps burning the Tooth Palace may have been a _small_ mistake. Inwardly, Cinder was smacking herself. Of course, deep down, she knew that it wasn't her fault directly. Nevertheless, the vague sense of guilt lay on her shoulders and fogged her mind._

_Cinder took a deep breath. "I still am... Eighteen, that is." The Guardians looked at one another silently, but not discretely. Cinder knew it was a bad answer, but as long as she could answer truthfully, she would do just that. Needless lying would bring her into further trouble. It was lying strategically that would be her best weapon._

_"So this past year," North surmised, "is all you remember?"_

_And the lying began. "You'd be correct."_

_It was Bunny's turn to veer them back on track. "So where were you on the second night of the year?"_

_Cinder wanted to smirk so badly. _No, Cinder, straight face! Straight face! _"I was travelling to the Bennett house."_

_"And what of the third? Fourth?" North stepped in._

_"Without giving the time," Cinder knew she'd caught something, "I'd say I was probably sleeping. Public cross-country buses aren't exactly the best bedtime material. And after taking care of Sophie for any longer than a few hours, it gets pretty tiring. She's little but that says nothing about her energy level." She saw Bunny look down and smile to himself. Had he known Sophie before?_

_"Where had ya been before?" Bunny added, trying to cover up his brief show of emotion._

_Again. No point in lying, even if the truth sounded like a terrible lie. "Las Vegas."_

_That was a shocker to the Guardians. Cinder couldn't help but laugh shortly. "I know, sort of a far trip. I don't like to stay in one area too long. Besides, have you been there? It's too hot. Burgess was a pleasant opposite." Naturally, there were other reasons she had left the gambling, nightclub-filled hell hole, but none of them mattered at the moment. There was no need to talk about him if she could avoid it. Old memories sifted through her stream of consciousness and she began to sweat. A familiar face began to bubble underneath the surface, and she tried to push it back without bursting the delicate frame. If she allowed herself to remember, to think about what she did for those four lonely years, she would never forgive herself. But presently, she scolded herself. Her life in Las Vegas didn't matter right now, nor would it ever if she had any determination._

_"No matter," North cut off her train of thought. Cinder was secretly thankful that she wouldn't have to elaborate on her doings there... "Let's cut to chase, yes? Do you know of certain fires?"_

_"Jack told me." There was no way Cinder was lying about Jack's involvement. That's what he got for throwing multiple snowballs in her face. If she was going to fall a little ways, she had to make sure Jack tripped partway with her. The Guardians took in the information rather normally, however. Jack must be the usual troublemaker among them. Did that surprise her?_

Hah, no.

_"An' when was that?" Bunny sounded frankly annoyed, but he was trying to play it cool. Cinder shook her head. The relationship between those two must be something amazing if they could even spend one whole minute in a room together._

_"A few nights ago, I'd guess," Cinder glanced upward to a corner in the room, as if looking for an answer. In honesty, her mind couldn't separate the events of the last few days. Was it the first night they had met? No... maybe? Second? Was it when she was drinking? Which time she was drinking? Damn it._

_"Listen, Cinder," North's accent thickened as his speech slowed, "Jack did not show up today because of accident. We had him and Sandy watch over house from safe distance. After you and Jamie... left the Pole, we had them, er, keep eye on you guys. For safety purposes. An' was not by accident we chose him─"_

_"It wasn't?" Bunny raised an eyebrow as Tooth shushed him._

_"─we chose Jack because he told us you were good to kids, Jamie and Sophie. Tell me, Cinder, do you care about those children?" North's face wad wrinkled with deep concern and years upon years of fretful responsibility. _

_Cinder's throat clenched and her eyes itched. "More than anything," was all that she could rasp before tears began to well in her eyes. What were these emotions? "I'd do anything to save them. That's why I'm here. Pitch needs to be stopped before he even dares to go near either of them... again."_

_The pure strength in her voice set each Guardian in a precarious position. North decided that he would be the one to continue. "What happened at pond, Cinder?"_

_Cinder told them everything about the incident. Nothing could pin her to the identity of the fire spirit. Pitch had made sure about that with his ever-cryptic speech. Hell, he'd even given her a truth out of the deal: fearlings were inside her. Well, at least one, anyway. She told them about that, too, but it seemed like they weren't surprised. Disappointed or pained in a sense, maybe, but not surprised. Despite the hundreds of years beside Pitch, she could never tell when he was lying with complete accuracy. The panic threatened to crash over her anew, sweeping her consciousness to the side, but she persevered with severe lightheadedness. When her clouded vision returned to normal, her story had ended and the Guardians were flitting glances around the room. Cinder still had the sense that Bunny believed her to be overwhelmingly guilty, and now the other two began to spark with similar thoughts. What ideas were tossing around in their minds? Cinder could only guess. _

And now, she sat in a bedroom similar to the one she had the other night during her recovery. The one exception was that this room had barred windows and her own personal watch guard on the outside of the door. Fancy. Long, furry ears peaked out of the little window toward the top of the door. It was over her head, conveniently, so that she couldn't see anything of the outside world. Above her were wooden beams that reached toward the unnecessarily high ceilings. Regardless, it was pretty to look at. It was also tempting to climb, but Cinder fought the childish urge.

The Guardians had been less definitive than she had thought. They never even talked about the fearlings, like they were afraid. Her next course of action was to wait in this small room for some amount of days, something they had also been unclear about. She would get food three times a day, of course, but other than that she had to fend for herself without getting in their way. Like that was hard to do when she was locked in a bedroom perhaps the size of a walk-in closet. _If Pitch does come to find you, then we know you work for him voluntarily, for then you are of worth to him. But, if he does not come, you are cleared._

_More or less,_ she could still hear the Easter Bunny add warily. Of course, she had said that she wasn't voluntarily under Pitch's control which was mostly true but they didn't listen. So, here she was. Would Jack care enough to come and find her? Would the Guardians allow him to speak with her or send him away? Cinder would never know until she was allowed to leave. Trying to escape was not an option, unless she wanted to hide for eternity. It wasn't necessarily the most appealing strategy at her disposal. Without so much as a spark of her old powers, she was utterly defenseless.

But that was _fine_, Cinder kept telling herself. She wanted to be innocent. Right now, no one could say otherwise except for Pitch. If he came back within a few days...

No! Cinder wanted no affiliation with the Nightmare King, not anymore. He messed with Jamie, and the redhead wasn't about to let him mess with Sophie. No longer caring that she was immortal and that they would see that eventually, Cinder wanted to protect them for the rest of their lives. She lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, overwhelmed. The knotted, swirling patterns in the wood gave her something to contemplate. Each grain had its own path that it would never get to travel, but it gave the appearance of movement. It felt much like her current situation. She was that one grain, darkened, but on the edge of the movement through the wood. It was splayed out, far from course, but it needn't worry because it was bound to rejoin eventually. Except that it never would. Everything was static, still; forever unmoving. The girl's brows furrowed, knowing that she couldn't lie down while there was still the chance of Pitch implementing the final parts of his plan. Frustration fumed in her heart, making her lips tremble in uncertainty. Surely, she could do something? Oh, if Jack were there...

Again, no! Cinder couldn't involve him, not anymore. Pitch made it clear that he was aiming much of his revenge upon the winter spirit. She was the idiot who got too close to Jack. She thought back to the previous night, when he came back to her window (and subsequently gave her a panic attack by wearing her cloak). He had opened up to her about his past... including the event from the beginning of this year. He suffered from a sort of panic attack that Cinder didn't know how to interpret. Then, in a turn of odd events, Jack and she had been inches away from each other. Their _noses_ had touched. Since habits─ even short-lived ones─ died hard, she had expected some spark. Indeed, she received one, but it wasn't what she thought it would be. There was no ice, no fire, but there had been some sort of heat. Cinder could feel it coming off of his cheeks, and it resonated with hers. But neither of them had backed away, at least not until Jack had released his breath and caused a thin filament of frost to cover her lips. She didn't know how to comprehend what had happened. It felt like she had brushed his _lips_, and yet they had not kissed. Jack's blushed expression certainly made her think that they had, but they didn't. In the depths of her mind, she wished they had. But on the surface, she wanted to push him away. If he knew _anything_ about her, or if Pitch knew of this, or if she was found out, or if any number of wrong moves occurred, Cinder knew everything would fall to pieces. They would all get hurt. She didn't particularly care if she got hurt: it had happened so often in the hundreds of years she'd been alive that she failed to keep count. But she did care if anyone else did─ well, except Pitch. But if Jack got hurt, she couldn't forgive herself. Was that how Jack felt about letting her go to rescue Jamie on her own? Cinder felt that she understood him a little more, which sickened her because he knew almost nothing of her.

Cinder couldn't take the self-introspection bullshit anymore. She needed to get out of here, even if just for a few minutes. Some activity to take her mind off of things. Peering toward the door, the rabbit's ears were barely visible. Cinder smirked and pushed herself off the bed, landing on light feet. Making a show of tiptoeing to the door, she wondered if the Easter Bunny was rolling his eyes, because surely he could hear her doing such ridiculous motions.

"Heeeyyyyyyy Bunny?" Cinder leaned against the door with both hands, playing as innocent as she could.

A flick of the ears and a low grunt told her that he was listening. Biting her lip, Cinder decided to ask out right. "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

That earned her incredulous laughter from the giant rabbit. "You really think it'd be that easy to escape?"

"Oh, come on," Cinder pleaded, "I haven't had a shower in _days_. And you expect me to just stay in this room for a few _more_ days? I'll probably smell as bad as Pitch looks!"

The joke received lighter laughter and Cinder's hopes rose. Perhaps the Guardian wasn't a stiff after all. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as Jack made him out to be. Those two may not get along often, but she was confident that she could turn things around for her own relation to him. "Sooooo... can I at least shower before my execution, then?"

"Wha' makes you think we're goin' ta execute ya?" Cinder could barely tell that Bunny had turned toward the door, according to her minimal view from the window above her head. It was naturally his height, so she could see his face as he made it a point to look through it. Well, just his eyes, actually. Some longer fur reached inside the room and his whiskers were bent back from his face peering through. It was comical, or would be if his eyes weren't casting dubious shadows directly on her.

"That's what normally happens to those who are locked up long enough," Cinder added factually, "and most of the inmates already know that about their sentences. So what's mine?"

"You know we aren' goin' ta do that," Bunny saw through her casualness. "But what _does_ happen depends on which side yer on."

Cinder pursed her lips in thought. She figured Bunny wouldn't stand for her jokes substantially. He was still wary of her. But if she was going to cut off her ties to Pitch, she had to convince them she was one of them now. Cinder never believed she would be faced with this situation. The only thing she could pray for was that they didn't make her a Guardian. It was doubtful that that would happen anyway, since the Man in the Moon never spoke to her. He sounded like the strangest deity to her. Jack spoke of him with such reverence, it was almost sickening. What did catch her attention, however, was that he was the one who had named Jack. She couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't a spirit the way that Jack was a spirit. She didn't even know how to comprehend the other Guardians. But that could wait. "Well, to whichever side you deem me to belong, can I please take a shower? I need some sort of stress relief around here."

"Empty room ain't doin' any good?" Bunny raised a furry eyebrow and chuckled. After a moment of looking at Cinder through the window, his face disappeared. "Get ready, I'll escort ya." Opening the door, a fuzzy paw tossed in some towels.

_How the hell did he have towels ready? _Cinder's eyes were alight with victory. Quickly undressing, she grabbed a towel and hung it around herself, grabbing a second towel for her hair. Leaving her clothing scattered about the floor of the room, Cinder knocked on the door to signify that she was ready. Suddenly, as Bunny opened the door, she realized how she must look. Keeping her head low, Cinder heard Bunny whisper to follow him and obeyed. Their feet padded onto the thick rug, sending muddled vibrations throughout the empty hallway. The awkwardness of the situation was disquieting, but the girl kept telling herself it was just her thoughts running away. Jack being weird once _does not_ warrant everyone to start doing the same. This guy was a _giant freaking rabbit_, for crying out loud.

Cinder shrugged it off and walked ahead of him when he held open the door to what could only be assumed to be the bathroom. It was rather large and beautiful tiles of blue and white were patterned around the first half of the room below the sink, mirror, and glorious toilet. The second half was separated by a glass wall, with a large obstruction in one corner. Cinder was confused at first, only to realize that the entire second half _was_ the shower, and the obstruction was an enormous bathtub. She changed her mind rather quickly after making that connection. It was a glorious room and, oh, did she want it for her own. Perhaps in later times, if they were still on friendly terms, she could move in. Not into any other room, just this one. They'd never know. She was about to ditch the towel and run for bliss when she stopped to consider Bunny's stoic presence in the room. Wasn't he going to leave? Stand outside the door?

As if answering her thoughts, Bunny cleared his throat. "A'm goin' ta hafta stay in here since there's a larger window that could be used as an escape, but I'll be turned around. North's orders," he added with precaution.

"You're afraid that I'll jump out of an umpteen-storey window, but not that I'll try and seduce my way past the guard?" Cinder wondered if rabbits could blush. She supposed it would be hard to tell, with all that fur. Turning her head sideways to peer at her unfortunate companion, her theory was proven right. He wasn't blushing, but he sure did look uncomfortable. The laugh that escaped her lips was just what she needed to relax a little. Not that she could say the same for Bunny.

"Go figure," Bunny tried to play it cool, "Jack always picks out the weird ones."

Cinder punched his furry arm and walked toward the glass wall. Off to the right, there was a divot in the glass that allowed her fingers to grip the side and slide the glass over. Closing it once again when she was inside, the girl looked for a place to hang her towels. A bath would feel better than a shower, even an extravagant shower like this one. Setting the towels on the shower bench, she walked over naked to the tub and turned the faucet. It was a singular faucet, with an H and a C on opposite sides. Normally, she would have just shoved the knob all the way on the H side, considering it wouldn't have mattered compared to her former body heat. But suddenly she was hypersensitive to any temperature change. After a few minutes, she finally found a hot temperature that wouldn't melt her skin and plugged the drain. Cinder had forgotten Bunny was there, since she didn't warn him about dropping her towel, but she didn't hear any complaints. Either Bunny was pleasantly surprised or he was being a gentleman about the arrangement. Looking out past the already steaming glass, she could see a furry glob hunched over, sitting on a stool, and examining one of his boomerangs. There must be no reason for that, Cinder figured, because he has those wherever he goes. He must know every nook and scratch and polish of those things. It was somewhat cute, she admitted only in her thoughts.

There was a seat curved into the edge of the tub closest to the window. Another seat ran the opposite way on the other side, but she wanted to be able to face Bunny and the window at the same time. The light would make her harder to see. It wasn't so that she could escape, but just so that Bunny wouldn't be able to see the finer details of her body. She may have been a little more carefree during her Vegas days, but she knew her situation was delicate. It was better to treat her body the same way. The water finally reached the bottom of the seat, soaking her feet and lower regions. The sudden lapse of the choppy water made Cinder shiver. When was the last time she had a bath? Not remembering clearly, she closed her eyes and waited while the water gradually filled the tub and covered her body. The thick steam puffed around her face. Cinder's hair began to curl and frizz, tickling her neck and shoulders. She turned off the faucet and dunked her head under the warm water. Coming up, her hair flattened around her cheeks and chin, shining an eerily dark red. Pulling it, painfully knotted already, behind her ears, Cinder relaxed against the edge of the tub and faced the Guardian in the room with her.

"That feels so much better," Cinder sighed with content. The giant rabbit flicked his ears but said nothing. He wasn't the talkative type was he? "So, do you know Sophie?"

That got his attention. He must have realized Cinder had taken notice of his earlier behavior. Bunny slowly turned around, wary of seeing Cinder naked. Seeing that she was under the water and he could only see the outline of her red hair and pale shoulders, Bunny faced her and put his paws on his knees. The stool he was sitting on creaked. "I've met the Anklebiter."

"Affectionate nickname for only meeting her," Cinder looked at her fingers splayed underneath the water, avoiding his gaze. If she was going to make him talk, she had to keep pretending she didn't know she was pressing buttons. "How long ago?"

"Ah'd say it's been four years, just befo' the Battle of Easter," Bunny replied, putting his boomerang back in its holster. Good. Now they're getting somewhere.

So... around the time Pitch was about to tear them apart, huh? Was Sophie present for such matters? She would have only been about three years old, maybe even two. "How?"

"She took wunna North's snow globes and was transported to the Warren, my home."

Cinder swam over to the other side of the tub and crossed her arms on the top, supporting her head closer to the glass and Bunny. "Continue," she tilted her head innocently.

"We found her an'... this is embarrassin', but we didn' know what to do with her," Bunny held his hands up in defeat. "We hadn' dealt with children in so long. Tha' was when Jack showed us 'ow to interact with 'em again. An' Anklebiter─ Sophie─ she grew quite attached to the Easter Bunny."

"I've heard her tell me about him─ well, you," Cinder added, "she'd say 'hop, hop, hop' and I'd ask why we had to and she said it was so that the Easter Bunny would come and play with us. She talked about the giant bunny and the walking eggs and green hills and trees for hours before bedtime. Sophie said her mom told her it was all a dream, but she won't believe that for a second. Of course, I had to believe her after I saw you that first time. Description matched pretty well, even though she was really young when that happened."

"She─ she still remembers?" Bunny's voice was sadly hopeful. Emotions were beginning to surface through his fluffy fur, and Cinder smiled at the reaction. They had genuine common ground, and Cinder was starting to regret being so rude to him.

Nodding, Cinder continued. "She misses you, Bunny. Maybe once this all blows over I can arrange for you to take her for a little while at the Warren? I'll say we're going to the amusement park or something."

The Guardian's face brightened for a moment and then hardened at the mention of the future. "I don't know, mate."

Cinder figured he didn't want to make plans in case she happened to be the bad guy─ which was only half true. She wasn't one anymore, or she didn't want to be, at least. She just had to find a way to get this fearling (or fearlings, she dreaded) out of her body. But Pitch said... Nonetheless, she had to open Bunny back up again. Cinder dunked her head back under the water to smooth her hair and grabbed a bar of soap that was on the tray by the window. Beginning to wash her body, she continued talking. "If it's any consolation, I'm sorry I called you a kangaroo... multiple times. I guess if I hadn't met Jack first, I'd have been a little nicer."

Bunny found that quite amusing. "It's quite awlright." Then Bunny continued suddenly, "I saw the way you wanted to protect Jamie, the day he went missing. You were tremblin', mate. An' you were fierce in gettin' him back, I'll tell ya what. I don' doubt ya treat Anklebiter any different. An' if times were different, well, you know."

Cinder paused, the soap bar resting on her lower back. Her wounds ached now that they were out of the water. She was turned away from Bunny so that he wouldn't see her front, but his voice was filled with something Cinder didn't hear before. Her head turned slowly to look at the Guardian to see that he was being serious. "Thank... you," was the most appropriate thing she could really say. This was unexpected and she was caught unaware, vulnerable to Bunny's own vulnerability. In this moment, she felt that they understood each other.

"When you're done, I'll take ya back to the room an' switch with Tooth," Bunny turned around to accommodate Cinder's privacy, "she's watchin' ya next."

Disappointed that she wouldn't get to talk to the Guardian of Hope a little longer, Cinder unplugged the tub with her toes and scrubbed through her hair quickly. Out of the tub, her body moved with an awkward wobble as she retrieved her towels. Her fingers were pruned and they fumbled with the towels as she wrapped them around her body and hair separately. When she was dry enough, Cinder slid the glass door open and walked toward Bunny. He had already stood up and he was about to open the door to leave when Cinder uttered, "Please take care of Sophie if I can't any longer."

Bunny didn't move. His paw was still latched onto the knob. His shoulders hunched and slowly relaxed as he breathed. "I'll say the same to you."

It was their promise to each other.

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**A/N: I know it seemed like not a lot happened, but this is really important! Hopefully I'll have the next chapters written up before next Tuesday so that I can keep my normal schedule. This is looking to be a 30ish-chapter story (fitting for my username), probably around 35. Then I'll start up the sequel either within this story's thread or in a separate thread. Which do you think would work better?**


	26. Promises to Keep

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I posted an announcement over a week ago saying I'd have this updated by last Friday, and I know that it is, in fact, almost a week past that date. It may be summer for me, but work really is kicking my butt. I'm also trying to write for my other three stories all at once (probably a bad choice). But this story is going to blow up _very _soon. I promise it'll be worth it and I'll try and update more regularly again. **

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 26** \- _Promises to Keep_

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After Jack found the ring, he stashed it in his pocket and began to pace around the Bennett house. What was he going to do? He told Tooth that he would reclaim Cinder's memories, but how could he do that when he knew it meant aiding a possible murderer? Giving her memories back might only strengthen her. His memories had strengthened him, after all. If she was allied to Pitch, who's to say she wouldn't use her memories to enhance her fire abilities? But Jack couldn't say that for sure. He walked past Jamie's room for what may have been the twelfth time as he changed his mind again. Staff tapping against the floor, he knew that Cinder didn't have her fire anymore. That's why she wasn't warm anymore, right? But why did they disappear after she saved Jamie? Was that her real trade? Then why did Pitch want her teeth? It didn't make sense! Jack's fingers rubbed against the smooth ridges on his worn staff as he tried to calm down and think. Surely girls weren't this complicated?

Nothing ever added up with Cinder. She admitted to being controlled by Pitch but she couldn't admit to burning villages in his name? Did she really have no control over her actions? Jack couldn't believe that justification as much as he tried. Everyone had some responsibility for their choices. At the same time, her choice to save Jamie and take care of him and his sister was heavily dissonant at best. That would mean that Pitch's manipulations were underneath her consciousness, like her memories. Could Pitch be suppressing the memories on purpose? If he destroyed the permanent stores of Cinder's tooth case, Cinder would truly be lost. That's what Tooth had told him. Jack peered into Sophie's room and saw that she had nearly rolled off the bed. She was having some sort of fantastic dream, perhaps of some memory. Jack wished he could have the same kind of closure...

A thought rang out in his head and he gasped. Cinder's case was the only missing case. It was the only case that Tooth said she hadn't looked through yet in looking for his tooth. Did that mean Cinder had some of his memories? It clicked. The reason for the panic attack the other night when she saw him wearing her cloak, the reason for the fear she felt when she learned of his death, the reason for almost every glaringly uneasy feeling between them, was that she knew something about him. She must have a part of his memories!

_Is that why Pitch wanted the case...?_

That settled it. Jack had to get her tooth case, regardless of whether or not Pitch knew his teeth were jumbled with hers. If those were destroyed, a part of himself would be destroyed as well. It felt selfish, but Jack told himself it was for Cinder as well. Perhaps she would understand.

Perhaps he would understand.

Jack snuck back into Jamie's room and tip-toed over to the window. Looking back at Jamie, the winter spirit saw that his body was turned toward Jack. The boy's face was peaceful, with no sign that he had been up earlier, other than the fact that he was fully dressed under the blanket. His breaths were long and measured, with no nightmare in sight. Jack wished he could feel as calm as Jamie appeared, but he knew that while he didn't have all his memories, he couldn't continue being Jack Frost. Not completely, anyway. What if there was something else he'd done when he was human that influenced the Man in the Moon's decision? What if Jack had done something awful? He'd want to correct anything he might have been responsible for. The flashbacks─ if they could be called such things─ haunted him whenever his mind wasn't occupied with some other current fun-filled disaster. That man had to be someone he knew. Could it be his father?

The thought ironically chilled Jack. He hopped out of the window and called to the wind, flying up over the town. He paused for a moment, pondering the ramifications of finding his memories once again. The floating cloak that hung over the pond had puzzled him for so long. Thinking on it now as he urged the wind to bring him there, Jack realized that it looked exactly like Cinder's. It made sense, considering it was surrounded by fire. But if those flashbacks were supposed to be memory remnants, why was there a forewarning of Cinder?

Jack reached the pond and landed with distractedly little effort. He walked over to the part of the pond where he'd help his sister put on her skates and hold her hand as he would take her onto the icy surface. There was a single tree still there from that time so long ago. It was old and the bark was flaking off feebly, but it was still the same tree. There was a branch that had been conveniently leaning out over the pond for his sister and him to grab onto when attempting to maintain balance. Jack smiled as he remembered his sister clutching the giant branch in her little arms for dear life, her eyes wide in mock fear. He'd always have to pick her up and swing her around before she calmed down enough to stand on her own. Usually, however, she'd be too dizzy and fall down, much to Jack's laughter. But one day, that branch was broken, right? It wasn't _that_ day, Jack remembered, because it had been broken before then. As it was now, no one would have ever known there was a branch there. But it wasn't there now. How did it break? Jack stared at the tree in front of him, one foot on the ice, the other on the snow, and contemplated the was another girl─ his sister's friend─ Alison? She'd gone skating with them, too. Jack had taught them both how to skate. He remembered a time where he'd swung them around so fast that even Jack had been amazingly dizzy. He'd fallen down, tripped by the rock in the middle, and scraped his knees. Jack looked out now to the rock in the middle of the pond and imagined the scene playing out before him. There they were, and then they were coming toward him, grabbing the imaginary branch and pulling themselves to the edge of the pond and onto land. But the branch was still there. Alison didn't break that branch. Where did the branch go? He searched his memories, looking hard at the area where the branch had been. But there was nothing. He hit a brick wall and his eyebrows were furrowed in frustration.

Certainly, this tree wouldn't hold any grand secrets of Jack's past, but it helped him think. If he could think of more memories, more reasons to be Jack Frost, he'd have an easier time against Pitch. Something─ anything─ to reinforce his center. Over the past few days, he'd worried that he'd started to lose his sense of fun. That could never be allowed to happen. Pitch would overpower him in a heartbeat if he knew. The thought of losing all that he had just gained back unsettled him. Jack stepped onto the pond and began pacing, ice trails sprawling out from under his feet. He could never help those. It was a part of the Jack Frost persona that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not stop from expressing himself. It happened when he peered inside Jamie's window. He hadn't even been touching the window and it still frosted over, much to his angst and disgust four years ago, having still not been seen by anyone. Even now that he had believers, the frost and snowflakes followed him anyway. It was a part of who he was now. But what part? And what part of his previous self led up to this? He knew he died, he knew the reason, and he knew that he'd saved his sister, but Jack couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. Something in Cinder's tooth case. Something that Cinder might know about him. He could just ask her, but that'd be going back on his word. He was getting her tooth case for her. It just so happened that it might be for himself as well.

"_Jaaaaaaack!_" An ethereal voice called out to him from nowhere in particular. "_Jack! Jaaaaaack!_"

Jack nearly slipped on the ice had his staff not caught his balance. The voice was similar in fashion to the way his sister's had called out to him, but the identity wasn't the same. This voice was still female, but it was lower, older. Jack's heartbeat raced. He must be close to the case. The last time he'd heard the voice from his tooth case, he'd been close to its location. Then Pitch...

This was a trap. Jack knew it.

"_Jack! Jack!_" The voice started to cry. Jack was completely taken over. He could hear the tears in this voice. It needed him. It needed him to know. "_JAAAAACK!_"

With that last howl, Jack shot up into the air and followed the sound deeper into the woods. He didn't care if it was a trap; he had to get that case. He had to know. The wind blasted his face as his eyes scrutinized the landscape. Where was that hole with the bed? It had taken him down to Pitch's lair, and it had to be where the sound was coming from.

"_Jack... no..._" Jack halted. His sister's voice had never said anything else besides his name. "_No, Jack, you can't!_" The terror in this voice was like a stab in Jack's chest. He had to know what it was he couldn't do, according to this voice. Did he do it anyway? Was it something wrong? Jack _needed_ to find out. He _needed_ to find this case.

But the sound wasn't coming from the forest. It was coming from the pond. It had moved. Jack gripped his staff tight in preparation to standoff with Pitch. He could be the only reason the case was moving. He had Cinder's case. But did he know it contained Jack's memories as well? He must, if he was waiting at the pond for him. So this was a trap. He'd known it contained his tooth, too. Could Pitch have done this on purpose? Not just take his tooth from Cinder's case, but could he have switched the tooth in the first place? Jack admitted it seemed plausible, since there was a period of time where Pitch had all of the teeth in his lair. But that would mean he'd known Cinder four years ago. Which would mean Cinder was under his control before then, or around then. If Cinder was eighteen now... that would have made her fourteen when Pitch had original possession of her teeth. Cinder was fed fearlings and Pitch locked away her memories to keep her under control. This must be it! But then why did he want Jack's tooth mixed in? Was that how he locked the memories? Does putting someone else's teeth in different cases lock up or change the memories? Jack had to hope that this wasn't the case, or it'd be his fault that Cinder didn't remember anything. Jack couldn't let that happen. He'd fix the problem himself without Tooth's intervention if it meant restoring his and Cinder's memories. If this was the intention, why Jack's teeth? Jack knew Pitch had a vendetta out for the winter spirit, but before then Pitch had no reason. If anything, he was trying to make Jack join him. Would taking away certain memories force him over to the other side?

Jack couldn't answer those questions now. His grimace was set in determination as he hurled himself toward the pond, toward Pitch, and toward the teeth. He skidded onto the ice and drifted around his staff, planted firmly on the surface. His eyes darted around the pond skimming the rocks and trees for the dark bastard. His breath was fighting to keep up with him but his limbs were itching for a fight. Jack wanted to scream Pitch's name, to urge him out into the open, but he knew deep down that Pitch would come out when he very well pleased.

"Tired, are we?" the familiar accent snaked into Jack's ears. Jack spun around to face the small cliff he'd seen Cinder fall from the day before. The recent memory caught at his throat as he saw Pitch standing in the same place he'd been that time.

"What's your plan this time?" Jack knew what he was going to try. He didn't dare to take any steps forward lest Pitch dissipate into the shadows. His fingers twisted and readjusted their grip on his staff impatiently. Pitch didn't answer him, but his thin lips curled upward. There was enjoyment sparkling in his pale yellow eyes, fueling Jack's infuriation. Pitch took a step forward, and Jack couldn't stand for the silence anymore. He shot ice from his staff and yelled, running forward. As Jack drew closer, Pitch deflected the shot and shrunk back behind the cliff. Jack skidded on the ice, slipping and struggling to turn around before the Nightmare King got the upper hand on him. As soon as Jack's back was against the cliff, he brought his face up only to be met with the devilish gaze of the man with the golden case. It was held out in front of him, in offering to Jack.

"Do you want this?" Pitch raised an eyebrow, his voice earnest. "Cinder's memories?" Pitch spun the case around in his palm to show that his grasp on the object was loose. Jack saw the face on the circular side of the case and knew that Pitch wasn't lying. The girl painted on the case looked exactly like Cinder, which made Jack wonder how Tooth could have managed to skip or neglect it. The face that was being made, however, was one that Jack hadn't seen on the face of the Cinder that he had begun to know. This face was sad, even with a smile. The small smirk looked like an attempt to be playful, but the rest of this girl's features were permanently lamenting something. This was nothing like the current Cinder. Whatever she had forgotten, would it really be worth remembering if it were as tragic as her face portrayed? Indecision raced in Jack's mind as Pitch continued to speak. "Or do you just want your memories?"

Jack was caught off guard. It had only been a guess, an entertained thought in his mind. But Pitch was being completely open. "What?"

"I can give them to you, Jack," Pitch's face was open, soft, and appeared trustworthy to a fault. "I'd say they're pretty important."

The last sentence sparked Jack's attention. His lips twitched in agitation. "How would you know?"

Pitch laughed, ignoring Jack's pointed staff at his center of mass. "I've opened these cases before, Jack. How do you think I triggered nightmares? Sure, the sand was the proper medium, but where do you think the _truly_ nightmarish things come from? Why, none other than one's own memories! Ghoulish reinterpretations are required, but the imagination generally takes care of the rest."

The gears in Jack's head were turning. "You didn't just steal the teeth to make kids lose faith in the Tooth Fairy?" This was unacceptable. Pitch was saying that Tooth wasn't important enough to his cause, that she was a side effect. Jack couldn't allow that to be said about Tooth. Jack wanted to launch himself at Pitch, but he waited for the man to continue.

"Of course, that was the main reason," Pitch turned his back on the winter spirit and began to pace around the center of the pond, "but I had to... change some plans after some unfortunate events. That Cinder is very unpredictable, you know."

"Not to you," Jack stood up, leaving the defensive stance to engage in conversation. Jack had to find a way around this. Surely if Pitch was here, then he couldn't be doing anything to the other Guardians. His nightmares hadn't returned in their horse-like forms, although there had been attacks recently in other areas. Nevertheless, Pitch didn't seem to be wasting time. He actually wanted to talk. Jack was standing now, true, but his posture was still wary. "You control the fearlings inside her."

Pitch turned to look at him incredulously. "You think I can control those things? They spring from the core of the earth after eating their fill and you expect _me_─ a lowly spirit defeated by the Guardians just years prior─ to be able to control them? Sure, the nightmares listened for the most part, but we all know how that one ended," Pitch glanced directly into Jack's eyes, knowing that Jack understood the reference. Jack bared his teeth but waited out for Pitch to continue. "Needless to say, she's very free-spirited. I was thoroughly surprised, considering her memories. And adding your memories to it, I must say, was intriguing. But," Pitch walked a little closer to Jack, who flinched instinctively. Jack could never be completely unafraid of this man. "You should be thankful, _Jack Frost_. I made you who you are, all on guesswork!"

Pitch was throwing curveball after curveball. Jack couldn't tell what this man was trying to tell him, but he knew it was double-sided. "What are you talking about?"

"Ask the girl," Pitch tossed the case onto the ice, cracking the surface. Jack's heartbeat quickened as the weight on the weakened ice splintered further. He let go of his staff and dove for the golden case, realizing too late that this was Pitch's intention. As soon as Jack was close to the case, Pitch's foot clamped down on his fingers. Jack yelped but couldn't pull his fingers away. His knuckles were most definitely bruising and the joints were creaking underneath the weight. "And make sure you watch the last portion... _closely_," Pitch's breath was hot and unbearably near. His foot pushed down further and the ice broke through, the case slipping down into the depths. Then Pitch's foot disappeared.

Without thinking, Jack shot his hand into the water and grabbed the case. However, thanks to his wonderful powers, ice was already beginning to form around his shoulder. Pulling his arm out quickly, the case clacked against the ice and slipped out of his hand. The case slid across the ice behind him and hit the rock jutting out from the ice, catching itself in a small pile of snow. Seeing that it was safe, Jack fell backward onto the ice and let his breath catch up to him. His hand, the same hand with the scars beginning to show from Cinder's fire powers (as Jack realized), was throbbing in dull pain at his side. His feet were next to the hole in the ice, already sewing up the damage. Pitch was nowhere to be seen, but Jack couldn't care less if Pitch's face was inches from his own again. He'd have punched him if he'd had any strength.

There must have been a reason Pitch simply gave him the case. He didn't even play any games like he had last time. There was no shadow transportation, no killing of Easter eggs, and no mind games. Okay, the last one was a lie. Pitch clearly wanted Jack to watch the memories. He also clearly planted Jack's tooth in Cinder's case. But he didn't answer Jack's questions, nor did he give room for Jack to ask any in the first place. What was in the tooth case that Pitch wanted him to see? Jack debated opening the memories immediately, but decided that it probably wouldn't open just for one tooth's worth of memories. So did Pitch want Jack to see just his, or Cinder's too? Jack didn't think that he could open Cinder's memories in addition; Baby Tooth or Cinder herself would have to do that.

_One step at a time; I have to get back to the North Pole first. And Cinder's going to have to come clean before I let her anywhere near those memories, even if it means I won't learn anything, either. _Jack sat up after his lungs calmed their pace and looked around. The dark atmosphere had cleared and any sign of Pitch's presence had vanished. Jack scooted back on the ice until he was sitting on the rock. The golden case lay next to him, releasing a quiet, haunting air of some ethereal noise. The occasional phoneme would slip into Jack's ear and he reached for it several times. Tooth said she'd be watching Cinder's door tonight, which would work out perfectly. He'd have Tooth hold onto the case while he held his own personal investigation of the redhead. Or perhaps Tooth could open just his memories. That thought made Jack's spirits rise considerably. Surely Cinder wouldn't be interested in his entirely unrelated memories. She might even already know some of them. All the more reason for Jack to ask her himself.

With some luck, she still wanted to talk to him. The last time he'd seen her, she'd walked herself into questioning, brave and sure. Jack admired that. But the Guardians hadn't said anything about what they'd asked or how she'd answered. It hurt Jack to see that they wouldn't trust him. Sure, the majority of his meetings with her had been secretive, but was that really so bad? Jack found himself to have an odd attachment to the girl. At first it had been simple curiosity and the aching desire to have a like-aged friend, but it had changed somewhere along the way. She was an enigma, one even Pitch couldn't seem to figure out. Did that make her scary or more interesting? There was something about the way she would look at him, despite her damaged glances. The other night when Jack had snuck into her room replayed in his mind as he held the tooth case in his palms. He wasn't sure when he picked it up, but now he couldn't let it go. Cinder's pink cheeks and frosted lips flashed by his eyes momentarily and his throat began to catch. The case glowed a little brighter as he thought of the troubled redhead and once again he was tempted. But there was little he could do at the moment.

"_Jaaaaack..._" the voice was weaker, thinner this time. Sadder, too. Jack shoved the case into his front pocket and stood up, grabbing his staff as he did so. His sleeve was soaked and it annoyed him that he couldn't simply dry it off without having an icicle for an arm. Before anymore thoughts could surface into his consciousness, Jack flew off for the North Pole.

But he couldn't help himself. Cinder came back into his mind as the wind carried him high above the clouds. And for the first time, he let the images linger.

The closer Jack got to the Pole, the angrier he seemed to get. His mind went from innocent, playful thoughts about his short times with Cinder to the times where she'd deliberately lied and pulled at his reserves of empathy. He began to believe that she wanted nothing to do with him, wanted to be free of everything. Jack could identify with the latter case, but he still did not agree with Cinder. In his mind, he slowly became convinced that Cinder had decided, on her own, to burn down those families' houses, time and time again. She used her position, regardless of whether it was given to her by Pitch or not, to... to...

Jack's mind was tired of thinking this much.

It shut off.

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**A/N: I'm sorry that the chapter's so short for so long a wait. I had to make sure Jack got his thoughts on the right track before the real stuff starts going down. In the next chapter, Cinder's got some explaining to do! Will it be the truth or more lies? **


	27. Cracked Walls

**A/N: I know I'm a terrible person when it comes to cliffhangers and I'm sorry. It's just I have a hard time knowing when to stop writing and I usually just stop writing before something complicated takes place, which regularly results in cliffhangers. I promise it's worth it, though (except, I say that a lot, don't I?)!**

**Also, just a side note for anyone who's interested, I've posted (yet another) story! This one's going to be a shorter one than the other two (**_**Granting Asylum**_** and **_**The Things No One Knows**_**, which both desperately need updates, I know, I know) that I'm working on. It's a crossover of **_**Rise of the Guardians**_** and **_**How To Train Your Dragon**_** (yes, it is a HiJack fic... guilty as charged) that I've been wanting to try. Hopefully some of you might check it out? I'd really appreciate it. :)**

**Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :D**

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**Chapter 27 **\- _Cracked Walls_

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Cinder, still cloaked in a thin towel, walked adjacent to Bunny as they made it back to the room in which she was being kept. Their promise still hung thick in the space between them. No matter what, Sophie would be kept safe, as long as either of them had anything to do with it. Hopefully, it would last for the rest of Sophie's lifetime. Cinder didn't care which one of them had to carry it out to the very end, she just wanted Sophie to be cared for and loved. The girl needed some magic in her life, some grand story for her to tell her children and their children and so on. Cinder wasn't sure why, but she felt she had an obligation to Sophie. Knowing that Bunny did too tossed a wave of relief over her head. If she were to die tomorrow, perhaps it would be in peace after all.

As they rounded the corner, a voice carried out urgently. The walls were nearly reverberating. Since Cinder's nearly blind eye turned toward the next hallway, she couldn't tell who it was. But the voice was unmistakable.

Jack had come to see her after all.

"Jack?" Cinder burst in front of Bunny, a smile already wide on her face. She didn't care if she was going to get pulled back into her room afterwards. Her heart skipped a beat. She'd never been this excited to see anyone ever. For some reason, Jack was beginning to have that effect on her. Or maybe it was because he promised to get her tooth case, and maybe he'd brought it back. Cinder ran down the hall, careful not to let her towel fly away. "Jack, you came to see me!"

"You liar!" _What?_ Before Cinder could slow down and register her hearing, Jack's arms took a hold on her momentum and shoved her against the wall. Frost was spiraling up her arms and around her body, shivering her to the bone. His bright blue eyes were inches from her face, their stare menacing. Cinder's heart was still pounding, but for a completely different reason now.

"Wha─" Cinder had hardly regained her breath, but Jack wouldn't let go. "What are you talking about?"

"You burned those villages! You probably killed innocent lives! You─ You─" Jack's weight was suddenly lifted and Cinder slumped to the floor. Bunny had hopped over and grabbed Jack from behind, rendering his arms useless. Jack squirmed against the Guardian's grasp, but couldn't escape. Tooth had her hand over the winter spirit's mouth. Jack was shouting muffled profanities and shooting enraged looks directly at Cinder, looking like a wild animal. The girl sat there, her hair towel had fallen off and the water dripped slowly down her bare skin. The warmth of the workshop was gone.

"Jack! What's going on?" Tooth looked at him intently. "Just the other day you wanted us to leave her alone! Why'd you fly in here so quickly just to yell at her! We can't even prove anything yet!" _So they already had it figured out?_ Cinder's mind flooded with worry. Maybe Pitch didn't take out the fearlings to protect her...

Jack was dropped by Bunny and the winter Guardian brushed off his sweatshirt before turning to Cinder. "Well, I can prove it. I found your ring, Cinder. The fire spirit's ring. On Sophie's finger." Jack took it out of his pocket and held it out to her. The familiar green and blue speckles danced sporadically as he gripped it in his fingers. Cinder almost reached out for it, but something told her to wait. "And that cloak? That's the fire spirit's cloak, I remember it now," he was pointing at her accusingly. He clenched the ring and put it in his pants pocket. Not his sweatshirt pocket where he normally put anything he was carrying. Cinder wondered if this was anything of significance.

"I told you, Pitch was contro─" Cinder began the lie that rolled off her tongue so often now that it was forming into a truth.

"Liar!" Jack had closed the space between them again. Cinder had hoped this would happen again, but not quite with this set of circumstances. It was a little disappointing that her body began to inch closer to him, regardless of the details. "Pitch can't control those things!"

"And you're calling _me_ the liar?" Cinder shoved Jack backward, forgetting that she had been trying to hold up her towel. It dropped to the floor and the three Guardians' faces burned. Bunny and Tooth instantly turned away, but Jack was still glaring into her eyes intently. And yet, the action was surprising enough that Cinder was able to continue yelling. "Pitch has always been a liar, surely you know that? Didn't he ever try to bring you to his side? Do you know what he's capable of doing? He's pulled me under his control so many times I don't even want to count!"

Jack's anger seethed as he continued in a low voice. "Sure, he did try to pull me to his side. He was close," Jack picked up Cinder's towel and tossed it at her, bringing his icy breath in front of her face, "but I was strong enough to oppose him."

Those words stung, and the ice from Jack's mouth spread frost across Cinder's features, raising goose bumps on her shoulders and arms. Cinder's good eye searched Jack for any trace of regret in what he'd said. There was none. Jack's normal self was fueled with anger hotter than Cinder's fire. She could feel tears pool into her eye and her lungs seared as she heaved. The pain that fluttered in her stomach was rising and the panic was beginning to blur her already failing vision.

Cinder's gaze dropped. It was time. "Fine. I did it. I burned those places. I've burned thousands of places. You know the First Great Fire of New York City in 1776? I did that. You know the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? I did that too. But I did _none_ of them voluntarily. Some of them were even accidental. And yeah, I've killed people," Cinder returned her stare to everyone watching, but she looked directly at Jack. "Do you know how hard it is to control fire? I'm sure you have enough work in containing the frost that lines every step you take! Snow and ice kill people, too, Frost. But it's the same thing between us. We didn't mean to kill people. It just happens. I hated working for Pitch. That's why I moved around so much, taking odd jobs. I took the job with Jamie and Sophie because I didn't want him to find me. I couldn't stand being pulled under again. And I fucked up. Jamie was pulled into it, too, fearlings and all. And by the way, I had no idea of their existence until the other day when Pitch showed up on the lake. But it doesn't matter, because I fucked up, okay? I know this. I know all of this. I've made fucking horrible choices, and I've gotten so many people hurt," Cinder's tears streaked down her face now. Her throat was raw and her limbs were weak but she just needed to pull through a few more seconds. It was her last plea, her last chance to set things straight. All of the truth she could muster would fall from her lips, hopefully not on deaf ears. "That's why I'm here, right now. I want to right my wrongs. I want to take down Pitch. I want my own life. And I want to protect theirs." As Cinder finished her rant, she could see Tooth's eyes misting over, Bunny was ruffling the back of his head with a nervous paw, and Jack's jaw had dropped.

Tooth was the first to speak after a long, heavy silence. "Y-you're a spirit?" She said it like she couldn't quite believe it. Jack most definitely didn't believe it, but he let the fairy continue. "You said the years 1776 and 1871. Cinder... exactly how long have you been eighteen?" Tooth wasn't accusing her of anything. Her soft eyes were filled with concern and Cinder wanted to believe that Tooth believed her.

"I don't remember anymore," Cinder choked out, her voice and tears nearly spent.

But Jack had remained resentful. He put his hand in his sweatshirt pocket and handed a tooth case to Tooth, his eyes never leaving Cinder's. Cinder's eyes darted to the case and she instantly recognized the picture. She gasped, but before she could say anything Jack interrupted her. "Would this tell you, Tooth?"

Tooth placed her delicate hands on the case and took it from Jack's grip. She squealed in fear almost instantly and nearly dropped the case to the floor. Passing a hand over the cover, Tooth lowered her head and shook it slowly. The air was thick and Cinder's heartbeat pounded in her ears.

"This case is from your time period, Jack."

The words made everyone turn toward Tooth. Bunny was shocked, but he remained a bystander. He had the most muscles in this group and could easily pull people away from each other if something went down. Then there was North, but he wasn't exactly present for this matter. Jack looked absolutely terrified and confused and perhaps a little doubtful. But Cinder wasn't quite grasping it. What did it matter if she was from the same time period? That didn't mean they knew each other. She was the first to object. "So what? I could be from England, for all we know!"

"You'd still carry the accent, mate," Bunny noted, which the redhead found amusing. Cinder knew he was right, but she still wouldn't draw any conclusions. There was no way, there couldn't be. Jack was from Colonial America. Even if she was from _the same continent_, she doubted they would be from the same settlement. Those places were small and very few women lived there. The chances of Cinder having ever been there was impossible.

"Well," Cinder turned to Tooth with pleading eyes, "am... am I allowed look?" Cinder was finally within reach of remembering what happened before waking up under those dreadful charred logs with a body burned to a crisp. She wanted desperately to know if she had a life worth remembering. Did she have a family? Was she a mother? A lonely bum? Any answer would suffice, she just needed to know. It would direct her; she'd have a purpose. But with the current state of affairs, who would let a fire-using murderer have the joy of going through their childhood memories?

Tooth seemed to go back and forth on what to say. Cinder was losing hope with each passing second, and the dried tears pulled at her cheeks. "The thing is... you and Jack would both have to look together."

Cinder was outraged. "What? Why does this frosty idiot have to watch my memories? That's so... exposing!" Cinder hugged her shoulders, suddenly very self-conscious about the fact that she was wearing no clothes and her towel wasn't covering a whole lot. She wasn't usually so protective of her body, considering her track record, but she wasn't exactly in front of like-minded people. Or people at all, for that matter. A spirit, a giant-rabbit-thing, and a fairy or hummingbird were her audience. It was almost as unsettling as the idea of letting Jack look through her memories.

Tooth turned to Jack. "You didn't tell her?"

"Didn't tell me what?" Cinder wheeled desperately to Jack.

Jack looked away momentarily, scratching his head with his staff. Throughout this entire ordeal, he never once let go of that thing. There were very few times, as Cinder thought of it now, that he'd ever not had the thing in his hand. Jack let a long, cold breath cascade out. "Pitch planted one of my teeth in your case."

"He planted it?" It was Tooth's turn to be mystified. She didn't know about this? The case has been in the Tooth Fairy's possession for only─ how old was Cinder? ─ three hundred years and Tooth didn't know? "Did he say so?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "He said he had his reasons... a change of plans or something. He did it when he stole the teeth four years ago. Which I'm sure _you_ were a part of," Jack glared accusingly in Cinder's direction.

"As if," Cinder was feeling rather aggressive, but she wasn't sure why. Well, yes she was. Jack was attacking her when he'd always been so nice to her. It was unlike him and Cinder sort of wanted to slap him. She thought better of it, though, and continued. "I told him he could do it himself. If he was directly in front of me and made the order, things might have been different."

"So when you went to rescue Jamie, and you struck a deal, he forced you to trade your teeth?" Jack questioned her.

Cinder realized what he was trying to get at and cut him off. "Yes─ I burned the Tooth Palace with the volcano. Yes, I released thousands _upon thousands_ of fearlings onto the earth. But remember, I had no idea what fearlings were at that point." If the truth was coming out, it was going to all come out. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tooth's face become crestfallen with the smallest hints of anger. She didn't seem to be the type to get angry often. Cinder almost wished she had held her tongue, but she knew that there was no way around it. She needed them to trust her, although it looked like she might never have their trust. Glancing at the case, Cinder fought the urge to grab them and run. But she needed Jack, or those memories weren't going to work. "And I'm sorry," Cinder added mainly for Tooth's sake, "but I really didn't have a lot of control over that one. It was either that or I relinquish my job for Pitch over to Jamie, and there wasn't even the slimmest chance of that happening, trust me. I couldn't live with myself if I did that."

Cinder saw that Jack realized his question, his accusation, had fallen flat. Could he really still be this angry? Pursing his lips and darting his eyes away from Cinder, he asked Tooth: "Can't you separate the memories individually? Or take mine out of the case?"

"That's just the thing, Jack," Tooth began to go into a long-winded explanation, "your teeth have been mixed with hers for so long that the memories have become mixed, too. I can sense it. They seem to just flow together. It's odd. I've never seen this happen before. I don't know what it means."

"Well, maybe they do know each other?" Bunny chimed in a guess. "Perhaps they know each other and─ and that's why they're mixin' together or whatever you said." He was unsure of himself, Cinder could tell, but at least he gave some sort of answer. Cinder simply stood in the middle of it all, an uneasy feeling forming in her stomach. She didn't know what to do, and standing still was killing her inside.

"Well, okay," Jack took a step toward Cinder and Tooth, "let's go and view the memories, then!" Jack had instinctually grabbed her arm and Cinder immediately held on, but for some reason neither of them knew why they had done so. Feeling oddly embarrassed, they let go as their cheeks began to color.

Tooth nearly giggled if it wasn't for the still-heavy atmosphere. "I don't know. I've never had to have two people view the same tooth case at the same time. It might not be possible! What if you two get stranded in the memories and don't get to experience them completely? What if you get two incomplete stories? Or what if one mind takes control of the viewing and changes things around? What if─"

"Tooth, Tooth, Tooth," Bunny hopped over and settled his paws on the Tooth Fairy's shoulders, "ya migh' wanna slow down a little there. We'll figure this out. What you're saying is you need them to look through all of the memories at the same pace, with the same view for each?"

Tooth nodded slowly. "I just don't know how I would link the two together."

"Don't you link the teeth to the memories?" Jack took a guess.

Tooth's face lit up, her feathers lifting into the air. "Of course! That's it! Oh, thank you, Jack!" But she didn't say what _it_ was. Tooth flew forward and embraced the winter spirit, to which Cinder silently chuckled. Bunny shared a comical look with her and angled his face toward Jack. They synchronized a wink in his direction, to which Jack blushed even more than before. Bunny and Cinder burst out laughing despite the earlier atmosphere. It was a little weird, but it was what they needed. Tooth, naturally, was oblivious and started flying down the corridor. "This way!"

Jack called a small favor to the wind and flew himself in Tooth's direction. Bunny hopped after them with Cinder jogging not far behind. She wasn't sure what was going on in the Tooth Fairy's head, but if it brought her to her memories, she didn't care. They ran to the corner and Tooth flew into the room. Cinder stopped dead. They were going back into her detainment room. She hadn't spent long in there and it wasn't awfully constricting or mentally painful, but she didn't want to face the probability that she'd get locked up again.

Cinder stood outside the door frame and watched as Tooth began instructing Jack and Bunny about the procedure. The weight of reality fell onto her shoulders and their voices were drowning out. If everything went to plan, Cinder was going to find out who she had been. But was that a good thing? And if she and Jack did know each other, would it change their dynamic? Granted, their dynamic was choppy and crudely romantic at best, but what if they drifted apart? After the events in Las Vegas─ which she dared not recall consciously─ was Cinder really ready to trust people again? She knew she had asked that much of these people, but could she return it? Or was she going to be a hypocrite? The choices swirled in her head and she felt dizzy. Thoughts of the boy with brown hair rose out of the groggy confusion and Cinder's uneasiness swelled. She knew that boy was Jack when he was human. Now she knew why she had those dreams and visions─ Jack's memories were mixed with hers. The panic attacks around him made sense. But if they were panic attacks, had their lives coincided in horrific proportions? Were they truly bitter enemies after all?

Cinder wasn't sure she could handle that. She'd come to the conclusion that she liked him, albeit subconsciously. But that concerned the current Jack. Jack Frost, the boy with white hair, was who Cinder liked. What if the human Jack─ Jackson Overland, as she remembered him telling her on that first night─ was a Jack she didn't want to know? But, they must be similar people? With a startling thought, Cinder realized that her human self might not be similar to whom she was right now at all. Cinder's breath hitched and she wanted to run away. That's right. She'd come this far, _so close_, and all she wanted to do was run. Run, run, _run_, _run_, _RUN_─

"─and the last person to die should be where the memories end," Tooth concluded, her voice drifting into Cinder's relative consciousness. "You've got all that?"

"Are you sure _you've_ got all that?" Jack joked, shaking his head at Tooth's wild plans, which Cinder hadn't heard. He turned to face Cinder, who was still in the doorway, and smiled confidently. "Are you ready, Cinder?" He held out at hand to her. Cinder's mind flashed back to the first night they'd talked. He had held out his hand to her in the same fashion: with a lopsided grin and eagerness shining in his eyes. But they had both been naive then. They didn't know what they knew now. And they were about to find out more.

Cinder hesitated, just like last time. Bunny saw the uncomfortable look in Cinder's eye and spoke up. "Why don't ya let 'er get dressed first?"

The redhead felt eternally grateful. "I would, but those clothes are dirty. I don't mean to sound snobby, or anything. It's just..."

"Say no more, sheila," Bunny made his way for the door, "I'll go grab somethin' from the yetis. North's gotta bring clothing to some o' the anklebiters on Christmas." Wow, Bunny was eager to leave the room. Could he not want to see what happens?

"Thanks, Bunny," Cinder smiled anyway. The less people to see whatever reactions would occur, the better. Out of the corner of her eye, Jack's jealous glare lingered on the giant rabbit longer than necessary, and it made Cinder giggle before she could realize it. Bunny had already left the room and still Jack was guarded.

"What's so funny?" Jack turned to her, jabbing the side of her arm. Something about this felt natural.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Cinder decided that if their views of each other were about to change that she may as well play up whatever she could. Her voice became sultrier as she continued. "Besides, you knew I didn't have clothes on."

Tooth looked extremely uncomfortable and Cinder recognized that her old personality may not exactly work in this situation. Nonetheless, Jack's cheeks blushed unnaturally pink for someone who shouldn't have any blood in their body. Cinder couldn't help but let a laugh escape from her lips. The air lightened and Jack turned away from her, probably hiding a smile. Tooth shook her head almost disapprovingly, but she couldn't hide her smile as well.

Bunny came back into the room with a bunch of fabric stacked in his arms. "I just grabbed whatever I found. It shouldn't really matter."

"I didn't have much taste, anyway," Cinder commented ruefully, sifting through the pile nonchalantly.

"That sweater was a little tacky," Jack added with a smirk.

Cinder returned a mockingly angry glance in his direction but smiled when she saw that he was smiling too. Turning back to the pile, Cinder saw a giant, oversized red sweater and a pair of girl's shorts, among many tacky Christmas items. Glancing at the others, she waited until they each got the hint to turn around. Letting the towel fall to the floor, Cinder donned the enormous sweater and wriggled her hips into the tiny shorts. They barely reached the top of her thighs and were probably wildly inappropriate since the sweater covered them easily, but it would have to do. Giving her figure one last visual check, she sighed. "I'm ready."

Jack was the first to spin around and look at her. The immediate lopsided grin was back and Cinder thought her heart thumped once or twice. She was apprehensive and curious about him all at once, the uneasiness now mixing with butterflies in her stomach. Wasn't he lethally angry at her a few minutes ago? It was a strange sensation, but Cinder wasn't sure if she wanted to give it up quite yet. It was intoxicating, like all of her favorite drinks poured into one and given to her in one large dose. The resulting high was already addictive, and Cinder found herself─ yet again─ struggling to make herself look at her memories. But as she looked at Jack, she thought she found the same indistinguishable feeling within him. Did he not want to know what he was missing either?

Was ignorance truly bliss?

Tooth popped up behind Jack's shoulder and darted her eyes in between the two of them. "So, are we all set to begin?" Her smile was bright and reassuring.

Jack's eyes landed on Cinder and they both nodded, saying together: "Ready."

Tooth squealed, being unusually excited. "Alright! So Jack, you'll take this side of the bed and Cinder, well, you'll take the other."

Cinder suddenly remembered that she hadn't listened to the instructions. Instead of embarrassing everyone further, she simply followed suit and climbed onto the very slim bed. Jack leaned his staff against the nightstand on his side and took his place next to her and they had to be touching so that they wouldn't fall off the bed. His sweatshirt brushed hers and Cinder almost caught herself wishing that their arms had been bare. The feeling of his skin on hers─ without the burning and freezing─ was something she began to yearn for. It was far more intoxicating than─ She immediately threw the thought away and swallowed her pride. Something cold suddenly grasped her fingers and Cinder nearly jerked her hand away. Looking down discretely, she noticed that Jack was holding her hand in his. Jack's fingers were freezing cold but smooth and careful as he cupped her hand with ease. Cinder knew her face was heating up yet again and she had to look away from their entanglement. Tooth didn't appear too concerned as she was readying the tooth case, smoothing it over and debating how best to place it. Cinder figured this must have been a part of the instructions.

Jack swiveled his head to his left and whispered quietly to Cinder. "I'm sorry about blowing up on your earlier. I... I wanted someone to blame. But you were right. I know you would never intentionally hurt kids, especially not Jamie or Sophie. When this is all over, I'll take you back to them, I promise."

In the face of every uncertainty, of every probability, Cinder knew that Jack's offer was genuine. For the second time in her life, she felt understood.

But for the first time in her life, Cinder felt like she was being seen.

Tooth popped her head over them, shattering the moment. "Alright! So when you're ready, both of you need to put your hands inside the top here," Tooth pointed to the flat piece with small blue and green gems in the shape of diamonds, with a larger purple one in the middle, "and keep your eyes open until the memories begin. Then your bodies should adjust to being outside watchers and they'll take care of themselves. Memories usually don't take longer than a few minutes, but this isn't exactly a normal case, is it?" Tooth giggled, but stopped as soon as Bunny gave her a certain look. "Just remember, keep a constant connection to each other, no matter what."

Cinder as about to ask how that was to be done when the case was settled on top of their clasped hands, the cool metal and Jack's cold fingers chilling her thoughts instantly. Jack squeezed her hand, as if to say that it was all going to be okay. Cinder squeezed back and saw Jack's smile in the corner of her vision.

"We'll stay right here with you, mates," Bunny added.

"Good luck," Tooth waved.

Looking at the boy with snow-white hair one last time, Cinder joined her hand in his upon the tooth case. For a second, nothing happened. Then the room became overbearingly bright and diamonds lifted from the case, becoming translucent as they faced the pair. _Keep your eyes open, Cinder!_ The diamonds and lights danced around a little faster before clicking into place.

And Cinder learned who she had been.

* * *

**A/N: I'M SORRY ABOUT THE CLIFFHANGER BUT GUYS, _GUYS_, _GUYS_, I AM SO EXCITED. THE NEXT FOUR CHAPTERS ARE ALL THE MEMORIES OF CINDER'S AND JACK'S FORGOTTEN PASTS.**

**Okay, rant over. I'm sorry. (You'd think I was Canadian what with all of these apologies! Sorry if that offends anyone. ... See what I mean?!) I'll update these chapters much more quickly because I've had these written out even before I had the rest of this story planned. *Excited hand flailing* EEK!**

**Next update is on Friday, without fail! Unless you want them sooner, of course! :)**


	28. Cinder's Memories, Part 1

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers! I am so eager to present these next few chapters. I will say, though, that I wrote these a long time ago. I have edited them recently, but honestly it's more dialogue than I'm used to. Still, a lot of it is really important, so I hope you don't mind! Besides, these chapters are much longer than my normal chapters!**

**WARNING: Abuse. This warning will be on each of the memory case chapters, so be warned!**

**Also a quick note for those who might not understand it immediately: the "ethereal watchers" are Cinder and Jack as the "viewers" or "watchers" of the memories. Their reactions are sprinkled throughout the writing for important effect. This is also why the memory chapters will not be confined to a single POV or have clear-cut character switching.**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 28** \- _Cinder's Memories, Part 1_

* * *

When the blindness faded away and the lights stopped changing, the scene settled. There were tall trees branching into the sky in numberless directions and birds hopping from limb to limb, chirping gleefully. Natural was abundant, the animals and the faded wintergreens coexisting without the corruptness of modern man. A clearing in the woods below revealed a few houses that surrounded a communal campfire that was burning low. The houses were made with logs, simply cut from what was on hand. Everything was made from nature through man, and harmony was omnipresent. It was early morning, but many were up and about, children and adults, busying themselves with whatever work or play that was set out for them that day.

A girl with shiny red hair, around ten years of age, was carrying an empty metal pail that was much bigger than her, bouncing with each step she took. She was humming absentmindedly with a neutral face that was content to only look at the dirt. The ethereal watchers immediately recognized her. Sighing, she set the pail down next to the town's well and began to push the lever down that would pump water into the pail. It took her a few tries, but the water finally began to flow. The lever rested a little taller than she was, so she had to jump and weigh herself down in order to get it to move. It was comical, especially according to some kids nearby.

"Hey, you look like you need help. Let me see that pump," a hand pushed the girl out of the way and she fell off the stand. She landed face-first in the dirt and let out a small cry.

"You gotta do it like this, weakling," the boy taunted her and began to wildly pump the water into the bucket. The girl looked like she wasn't sure if she wanted his help. The boy had blond hair, which was fairly rare in the village. Only one family sported the golden locks. Because of that, he prided himself on being the most handsome boy around. But for a similar rarity, he considered the redhead vastly different. Pretty soon, the bucket was overflowing, but the boy showed no sign of stopping.

"Stop!" the girl's voice cried. "It's full! It's full! I can't carry it like that!" In that moment, she appeared smaller than she actually was. And far more frail.

The boy stopped pumping suddenly. The girl smiled, believing she had stood up for herself. Instead, the boy turned to her and shoved her down again. This time, she landed with her back hitting a tree root that stuck out of the ground. She yelped and curled over in pain.

"I don't wanna hear a girl talking to me like that," the boy sneered, "especially a witch like you!"

"I'm not a witch," the girl whimpered feebly. "That hurt, Jasper!"

"Shut up, Verity," the boy named Jasper sneered devilishly. "Witches have red hair, and so do you. That makes you a witch. I'm surprised we haven't burned you yet!" He laughed and kicked her in the stomach. Verity let out another cry and hugged her knees. Why couldn't anyone ever be nice to her? "Come on, you're a witch. Shoot me down with magic if you can!" he jaunted as he kicked her again. Repetition of awful action did not dictate the ability to mentally shield oneself. It hurt the first time, the second, the third, and the hundredth time, never getting any easier. Verity wondered why none of the adults were coming to help her. Perhaps they were all too busy. They were always too busy. The girl doubted that they would ever not be busy when it came to her safety. It was cruelly unfair. She was about to let the bullying continue when she heard a different voice behind her.

"Quit it, Jasper. She didn't do anything to you," the voice warned. Verity looked up to see a boy with brown hair and brown eyes glaring at Jasper. The ethereal watchers' breaths hitched. "Go do something else, why don't you?"

Jasper sneered. "Why don't you actually do some work around here, Jackson? We can't all have fun forever."

Jackson furrowed his brows but didn't say anything. There was a frightening tension in the air that prevented Verity from moving. She felt her throat close up the longer that nothing happened. Jasper's face was reddening in anger, his fists shaking in frustration. Finally, he tore his eyes away first and stomped off. Jackson's features relaxed as he walked in front of Verity and held out his hands. "Do you want some help?"

His face was genuinely concerned, but she didn't take his offer. Verity stayed on the ground, hopeless. "He'll just come back with his friends next time. I can't just run away from all of them!" She cried indignantly.

Jackson leaned down and took her hands anyway, helping her up carefully. "No, but it's okay because I'll stop them." His smile was supposed to be reassuring.

Verity shook her head and took her hands away. This boy was too confident for his own good. She wasn't worth anyone's kindness. "You don't wanna help me, I'm just a freak."

Jackson smirked. "I don't mind," Verity frowned because he was admitting that she was freakish, "I like your hair and I don't think you're a witch. You're too timid to be a witch! Witches are all scary, old, and ugly."

The joke made her laugh despite the kicks to her side. Her ribs hurt with little provocation and she was afraid there would be more bruises to have to tend. Just what she wanted. "Thank you... Jackson, was it?"

"Mhm," Jackson nodded, "but you can call me Jack. And what's yours?"

"Verity," the redhead said softly. No one ever asked for her name. For the most part, she was so infamous that everyone already knew anyway. Was this boy really from around here? Perhaps he was from a nearby settlement, visiting with his family for supplies. Of course they wouldn't know of her if that were the case. Was he maybe related to Jasper? Verity looked him over a few times, still uneasy.

"I can help carry the water bucket," Jack offered, already grabbing the handle.

"No, no, I've got it!" She said quickly as she darted around him and took the bucket from him. But it was heavier than she expected it to be, and it hardly budged. _Stupid bucket..._

Jack laughed at her failed attempt. "No, really, I'll help carry it." He reached for the pail. Verity thought about swatting his hand away, stubborn as she was, but decided against it. How else was she supposed to get the thing back to her house? In the past, she always ended up taking several trips, and losing much water in the process.

"Thanks," Verity fumed with embarrassment, letting go and crossing her arms with a pout.

"No problem," Jack grunted as he lifted the bucket. "Just tell me where to go."

Verity peered warily toward the forlorn cabin across the way. It was always so dark, even in the day time. She shivered, partially from a memory and partially from the current weather. Winter had settled in harshly this year, much to her chagrin. "The farthest house on the left from the clearing," she muttered.

They began walking together toward the house. With each step, Verity's anxieties heightened. This boy had come far enough, right? Was he going to dump it now? She kept expecting the boy to be a secret accomplice of Jasper's, but Jack was content with the task he had been given. "I live right next to the pond," Jack added nonchalantly. "It's a nice place to ice skate, if you want to sometime."

"Cool," Verity kept her head down. She didn't want Jack to associate with her out of fear of the townspeople's judgments. Many voiced their feelings about Verity before she even knew any of them. Her red hair put off everyone's mood, but she wasn't confident in the reason why. Sure, her hair was weird and rare and no one else had ever seen it, but she didn't think it justified her as a witch. The hair certainly didn't make her feel like she had magical powers.

They reached her house in silence and Jack set the bucket down. He was about to open the door when Verity shot out her hand and stopped him. Without making a sound, she shook her head at him and motioned him to leave. "Thank you," she whispered.

Jack looked confused, but he didn't question it. He vaguely knew about this house, but because it was on the other side of the village he didn't hear much about them. He remembered that the wife had died sometime ago, but he didn't remember how. Waving and smiling to Verity, he walked off toward his own house. His mother would probably want him home soon. She was pregnant and couldn't handle a lot of the things that needed to be done without him or his father there. Jack couldn't wait to have a sibling of his own. He'd seen so many other families have upwards of four to eight kids, and he wished his family could grow that big. He'd take care of all of them; show them how to have fun and live life. But he was ten years old when his parents finally decided a second kid would be beneficial. Jack didn't particularly care about all of the details; he just wanted someone to play with.

When Jack was out of sight, Verity quietly opened the door and slid the heavy bucket inside. The sunlight that drifted in settled onto the dusty tables and dirty dishes and it made her sick. Closing the door, she moved the bucket toward the table below the window on the adjacent wall. All of the water would be for washing this place later today. Verity wasn't sure why she bothered; it was just going to get destroyed again. From the other side of the cabin she heard a deep grumble.

"Ye got the water?" A guttural voice jarred her hearing.

"Yes, Pa," Verity whispered.

"'Bout damn time, ye li'l wench," a man stood up from a bed that faced the door. He was a tall and burly man with dark, dark hair and darker eyes, a scraggly beard and moustache in addition. His face was set in a permanent drunken sneer, and his personality matched. "Git yerself to work an' clean dis place, it's filthy," he spat in a corner.

"Yes, Pa," Verity nodded curtly. Normal rounds at the Walker house.

"'Yes, _sir_,' from ye," the man corrected her.

"I'm sorry," Verity apologized. Then she felt a thump on her head. He had smacked her with a piece of kindling before tossing it in the fireplace next to the basin. The fireplace was the only part of the house that really got constant use. The rest were just constantly cleaned.

"Try it again," he warned her.

"I'm sorry, sir," Verity corrected herself fearfully. She wanted out of the house as soon as she could. She always felt that way. As soon as her foot set in the doorway each time every day, she wished to leave immediately. This time was no different.

"That's mo' like it," he scratched his stomach and belched. Staring around clueless for a moment, he looked at the nonexistent fire in the fireplace. The cogs were turning slowly and sloppily in his mind. "I don' want ye startin' dis fire, so don' touch it."

"I wasn't going to," Verity snapped back before she realized what she did. Wincing preemptively, she knew what punishment she would get.

He smacked her upside the head instantly. "Shut yer mouth, wench. Git to work. Now."

"Yes, sir," she whimpered and took the laundry in a separate bucket and poured a little of the water she had brought back in it. Picking it up as best she could, she ran out of the house before he could say another word to her.

As soon as she was out of earshot, she let the tears flow freely. At ten years old, she was doing all of the housework while her father slept and drank all hours, day and night. It hadn't always been that way, she'd been told. He had been a loyal and kind man of the village, and his wife had been the best seamstress in the town. When she became pregnant, everyone was ecstatic to meet the little one when the time came, and they all thought it was going to be the most beautiful baby. But then Verity's mother died in childbirth, leaving Verity, a newborn, in the hands of a distraught father. All was well until they saw Verity's hair color grow in. The seemingly unnatural orange glow that flowed from her little head worried many of the village people. They believed she was a demon who killed her mother in order to be born into the world. Her father denied it for a long time and she was allowed to live. But then he began to drink more and more, and he convinced her that for his kindness, she must do all of the work because that is her duty to him and as a growing woman. At first, she went along with it. But even now, at ten years old, she couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. An ethereal watcher felt so overwhelmed that the viewing was paused momentarily. The other ethereal watcher reassured the first and the memories continued to unravel.

It was like this every day. Sometimes it was worse, other times it was almost okay. Almost. Verity didn't look forward to a whole lot except the end of the day when she could grab a blanket and curl up on the floor next to the fire. Sometimes, if she was sneaky enough, she could grab a grubby pillow from her father's bed and use that instead of a dirt pile. Then every morning, in order to get the dirt and grime out of her hair, she went to the river and rinsed it. Everything that she could do for herself, she had to do when he couldn't watch her. If he saw her so much as attempting to clean her face or wash her hands, he would grovel on and on about her ungratefulness. Even when he was completely drunk and wasted, he would still call her out for being a selfish witch. That's where many of the other village kids, including Jasper, got the idea to call her names and pick on her. They didn't have real reasons other than their own unhappiness with their own lives, Verity tried to tell herself. However, it wasn't very convincing.

Well, Jack didn't pick on her, but Verity wasn't sure if he just didn't know of the situation because he lived outside the village or because he didn't care. She hardly ever saw the boy around; she often heard him playing with many of the younger children out in the woods or on the pond if it was frozen enough. Verity never got to play because she could never get away from her father. Any sense of fun and he would rattle dangerously about the inconsiderate youth. There were days, if her father had passed out or was out of the house temporarily (which was a rarity), where she would look out the greasy window and yearn to travel beyond the pump and brewery (she often bartered for her father's whiskey in his stead). The tiny pond wasn't far, but to Verity it would be the adventure to end all adventures.

* * *

One day, it was mid morning and her father hadn't woken up yet. Verity figured he had drunk a little too much, which was hard to do for the alcoholic, and was hopefully so hung-over that he wouldn't wake up until the afternoon. It gave her time to clean up the place extra well so that he may not complain when he became semi-conscious. She thought that she might even get extra food on her meager plate that night. Most nights, she didn't get more than a slice of stale bread or a glass of murky, used water. Occasionally, he would give her some small piece of fruit or a tiny strip of venison as praise for doing her work. Verity couldn't understand where her father was hoarding the more nutritional foods, but she knew better than to question him. Besides, being given even mediocre food by her father happened so seldomly that Verity rarely kept her hopes up.

Then there was a knock on the door. It surprised Verity so much that she almost dropped the only glass cup they had. If that had shattered, she was fearful about what her father would have done. She didn't want to think too hard about it. She walked up to the door and opened it wide enough for her eye to see through. Opening the door for anyone other than her father usually ended in name-calling or worse. Never as bad as when it actually was her father, but still scarring.

"Hello?" she asked in a small voice. Her eyes narrowed in an attempt to filter out the bright sunlight.

"Hey, is that you, Verity?" A boy with brown hair stood a respectable distance from the door. _Jack? _"I haven't seen you around. Do you wanna come and play today?" His bright smile made Verity smile back instantly, before she remembered her situation.

"I can't, sorry," she said curtly.

"Why not?" Jack seemed perplexed. "Is your dad─?"

"He said I have to stay here and clean," she interrupted quickly. If her dad caught her talking to anyone, especially a boy... she didn't want to know what would happen. The sooner that she could get this boy to leave would be the better.

Jack frowned. "Well I'll come back in a little bit and see if you're done then," he was about to turn away when Verity opened the door wider.

"Wait," she couldn't help herself. She didn't want to turn away the first person to treat her as someone worth talking to. Just one friend; was that too much to ask for? "I think it's clean enough for now, I can always come back later."

"That's the spirit," Jack cheered up as he grabbed Verity's hand and tore her away from her house. For the first time ever, Verity had real hope. "Everybody needs to have a little fun!"

Jack took her across the village and through the riverside path in the woods that led to the pond, never letting go of her hand. He hadn't even given her time to put on shoes, and her bare feet were turning red as they ran through the snow. Verity worried for a small moment that perhaps she had befriended the crazy person of the village, but his reassuring smile passed her way several times and she knew he was just excited to have someone to play games with. He probably didn't hang out with many kids his age. Jack's smile was infectious, however, and she soon found herself smiling and laughing the same way. Then Verity noticed that Jack was wearing only a long sleeve shirt and a vest for warmth, and she questioned his sanity again. Was this boy immune to the cold?

When they reached the pond however, he turned to her with that smile again. "Wait here, I'm gonna go get the skates."

"Skates?" Verity asked timidly. After all of the daydreaming and planning, she realized that she didn't know how to skate.

"For the pond, silly," he clarified as he ruffled her hair. "Don't go on the pond until I get back, okay?" _You don't have to worry about that,_ Verity thought with a quick downward smirk. The girl nodded and sat down. She pleated her faded and frayed dress and folded her hands waiting patiently. Jack ran toward a cabin that she just now saw down the side of the pond. _That must be his house, _she thought. Verity let out a long, slow breath. Her heartbeat was racing and it was hard to keep it under control. She was farther from the house than she had ever been which may have seemed sad to most people. But she wasn't liked very much, so the more out of the way she stayed, the more people were neutral toward her at best. She smiled to herself, proud that she had done something for herself for once, instead of always taking care of her alcoholic father. She knew if she didn't get back before he awoke that she would be in a world of trouble, but at the current moment she could not care less.

Jack came back with a pair of skates slung over his back and another pair held out in his other hand. He now had a large cloak on, and it was much too big for him. Verity giggled at his goofy appearance and took the skates offered, only to realize that she wasn't sure how to put them on or tie them. Some planner she was. The girl waited until Jack put his skates on, and then waved them in front of him to exaggerate her ignorance. He laughed and helped her put them on, then helped her stand on the ice. Jack made it all look so easy, but Verity wavered and slipped and nearly fell. The only reason that she didn't fall completely was because Jack caught her. She blushed from embarrassment and tried to push him away only to nearly fall again. When she was finally steady, he gave her a push on the back and she was sailing for the middle of the pond. The blades wobbled at first, but then she straightened them out and felt a certain amount of traction enter under her control. Her pure delight shone on her face and she turned her head to smile widely at Jack. He smiled back at first, but then his face changed.

"Wait, stop, Verity! You're going to hit─"

But it was too late, Verity's skates hit the rock that jutted out from the middle of the pond and she fell forward onto it. Thankfully she had put her hands up instinctively, but her arms did not appreciate it. They were a little scratched, but she shook it off and tried to stand back up. Her skates slipped out from under her and she was about to fall backward on her backside when Jack caught her arm and pulled her up again. Okay, so she wasn't the greatest. But she could get better. Verity was determined, in fact, to get much better.

"I should've taught you how to stop, too," Jack let out a short laugh. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It was just a little scratch," Verity showed him the underside of the arm he was still holding.

Jack frowned slightly but didn't say anything. His face changed back to its cheerful disposition and he swung her back out toward the middle. This time, he taught her how to stop on the ice, since skates were different from feet and the ice could break if she fell hard enough. Verity didn't like the sound of that, but Jack assured her that it was alright with him around; he wouldn't let her fall. She nodded, not completely sure if she believed in him, but she took the chance anyway. After a few minutes, Verity had gotten the hang of it and was already trying jumps and tricks, and circles on one foot or the other. When Verity was determined, almost anything could happen. Her grace became her, and Jack smiled in awe. It was a shame she didn't come out to play more often, but Jack promised himself he'd make sure she could have more opportunities to do so.

A few hours passed and eventually Verity began to teach Jack how she was doing some of the tricks she had made up. As many times as Jack tried, he couldn't get them all right. The ethereal watchers were placing bets on the first one to fall. On one of the more difficult procedures, he skated over the edge of his large cloak and tripped, falling backward on the ice. There was a stunned silence for a few seconds, both of them listening to the ice crackling. Fear crawled all over Verity's skin. Was the pond's ice going to break through? Jack stood skillfully.

"I think that'll be enough skating for the day," Jack concluded awkwardly. "Do you wanna come to my house? My mom could make you something warm to drink."

Verity's eyes softened at the kindness, but then she realized something. "How much time has passed?"

"It's probably a little ways into the afternoon," Jack guessed.

_Oh no, _she thought fearfully. "I have to go home now, my father is probably waiting for me," she said as she skated to the edge of the pond and ripped off the skates. She looked around for shoes when she remembered that she didn't wear any when she left. "I'm sorry!" she called as she ran off, leaving Jack alone at the pond, still standing in his skates. He stared after her, confused and a little disappointed.

* * *

The next morning, there was another knock on Verity's door. She awoke on the floor without a blanket, and the fire had gone out. Swearing to herself, she threw some sticks and quickly stroked a leftover piece of flint until a spark caught. Her father would blame her for letting the fire go out, even if she wasn't allowed to touch it. He was not the brightest man. There was the knock again. She walked up to the door and eased it open like the first day, still wary.

"Hey, Verity!" Jack's cheerful voice was misplaced in the current context. "Wanna play?"

Verity almost opened the door, but realized that it was probably a bad idea. "I can't today. My father was awake when I got home yesterday and he wasn't too happy." _He wasn't happy at all._

"Well, can't you come out for a little bit?"

Verity wanted so badly to say yes. There must be a way. She disappeared into the cabin and brought back the metal bucket. "I do have to refill this today. Do you want to help me?"

Jack beamed at her cleverness and held out his hand for the water bucket. Verity handed him the pail and their fingers brushed in passing. Verity couldn't get over the fact that a human's touch could be so neutral that she considered it kind. Silently, they walked a few paces before Verity started to rub her arm carefully. It itched, but she knew that if she scratched it, it would bring more pain than relief. Jack pretended not to take notice, but he had it in his mind that he would ask her about it. When they got to the pump, Jack set it down and looked up to see that Verity was trying to pump the water herself. _She just doesn't quit, does she?_ He smirked. Her ill-fitting sleeves slid downward, revealing her arms.

That's when he saw it. The long burn marks that raked her right arm, from the wrist to the elbow at least. When she saw that he was staring, Verity immediately let go of the pump and slid her sleeves down protectively. One ethereal watcher felt their arm absentmindedly while the other sympathized all too well.

"Could you pump this for me, please?" Verity glanced at the pump and waited. Her mind raced. He'd seen. What would he think? She had to come up with something.

"What were those?" Jack pointed to her arm, ignoring her request.

"Oh, these?" Verity looked down sheepishly. "I was being clumsy when I was restocking the fire and burned myself on a stick that was poking too far out." _Please believe me..._

"And you did that ten times?" Jack asked skeptically, counting how many scratches ran up her arm.

Verity blinked but didn't answer him. Coming up with a better lie was close to impossible. Instead she pointed feebly to the pump and set the pail closer to the spout. Taking the gesture as the end of the conversation, Jack helped pump the water. When it was full, he carried it for her on the way back to the house. Verity was trailing behind rather than walking beside him. There was something off about this girl.

Someone pushed Verity in the back, which made her bump into Jack, who managed only to spill a little of the water. When he turned around to ask her what was going on, he saw that she was being held by the back of her dress, strung up to the point that her feet were barely touching the ground. Verity's collar was putting pressure against her throat and she was clawing wildly at the buttons, desperately trying to breathe. Jasper grinned in devilish delight with several of his friends beside him.

"Look who the witch made friends with!" his friends jeered in addition, pulling at her hair. Verity screamed in irritated agony.

"Hey!" Verity kicked and flailed her arms in vain. "Let me go!"

Jack set down the water bucket and turned to them. "Don't you have something better to do, Jasper?"

"Friends of witches may as well be witches, too," Jasper sneered and spat on the ground in front of Jack's bare feet. It was deeply disgraceful, but what was to be done after the fact? Jack furrowed his brows but he didn't step back. He knew that that was what Jasper wanted.

"Let her go," Jack's voice lowered.

"Or what," one of Jasper's friends joined in, "you'll ask to play hide-and-seek? Get out of this, kid. It doesn't concern you." Jasper was the same age as Jack, so referring to him as kid was deeply upsetting to the latter boy.

Jack was about to say something when Jasper let out a surprised yelp of pain. Jack's eyes darted rapidly to Verity, who was biting Jasper's free hand. Jasper let go of her dress and let her drop to the ground. Still, Verity didn't let go. Her teeth sank into his skin and she shook her head vigorously. If Verity wanted to be violent, she was going to be violent. When he began to bleed and cry, she stood up and ran, taking Jack's hand.

"Let's get out of here!" Verity yelled, feet already digging into the ground to pull the boy along with her. Adrenaline was pumping in her veins, allowing her to tug Jack a few feet reluctantly before he followed suit.

"What about the water?" Jack panted as they bolted.

"Leave it be. I'll just have to get more later," Verity wrote it off. Jack was astounded by Verity's sudden outburst. It didn't seem like a typical action someone like her would take.

"We could have solved that peacefully, you know," Jack said after they were finally out of sight.

That's when Verity slowed down, even though she still did not let go of his hand. She knew, too late, what her actions meant in the long run. Turning to him, there were tears in her eyes. "They'll just come back. They always come back." Her one act of bravery was in vain. She let go of his hand and ran back to her house alone. Once she was in the house, she set herself to work, tidying the house and cleaning the mess from her father's drunken stupor the other night. It felt automatic. It felt safe.

Jack simply stood where he was. The other boys had run off, cowards that they were, and he didn't know what to do. He went back to the water bucket and picked it up. The least he could do was get the water to her so that her father wasn't mean to her. Jack didn't believe Verity's stick burning story and he had a strong belief that her father was the real reason. But he knew there wasn't much that he could say. He knew how the village treated her, even if it was through omission or ignorance. But he had wanted to talk to her since he met her. He couldn't help it, the red hair was so cool and he thought that maybe she would be cool too and that they could have fun and play games together with the other children. Setting down the water bucket at her front door, he knocked and then walked back home without waiting for an answer. She would understand.

When Verity opened her door, she saw the water bucket had made it to her house, and she smiled sadly. She'd have to thank Jack as soon as she could. But first, she had to deal with her father. He'd just woken up.

* * *

The next day Verity did not see Jack. She didn't see him the next day or the day after, and she had begun to lose hope. She was too scared to seek out his company by herself, for fear that she would run into practically anyone but him. A week passed, and she had not heard from or seen him anywhere. Verity was on the verge of concluding that Jack had been a myth. Then, on the seventh day, a knock paraded on her door, and a smile lit up her face. She ran immediately for the door, only to be pushed back by her father's drunkenly stern arm.

"Git to work, ye wench," he instructed her right off the bat.

"But sir, I finished my work," she answered, but as usual, she was ignored.

The man grunted in answer to her and opened the door. "Yeah?"

"Hi, is Verity there?" Verity's smiles were proven right and she eagerly waited to see how Jack would deal with her father. She had some sort of firm belief that Jack could trick his way around the most stubborn of adults. Maybe her father would make an exception, just this one time, and let her out willingly.

"Who're ye dat's askin'?" he sneered.

"I'm Jackson Overland. I was sent by Mr. Burgess to gather up the children. He has small jobs that need to get done around the village and the children are more able to do it than the adult folks."

Verity was taken aback. Mr. Burgess was like the leader of the village. The name of the village was entrusted to him. Often, he'd gather the village people and make some speeches, but Verity often was working in her home and was too busy to see what he had to say. Why was now so important that he needed _all _the children? Why not just grab the stronger or bigger children? Verity was neither of those.

Her father groaned in consideration. "As long as he's puttin' 'em to work, I s'pose I can spare him my daughter. Verity," he waved her over. She obeyed immediately. "Go wit dis boy. Mr. Burgess's puttin' ye to work. Be glad, it's yer only time outta dis house for anything longer'n a hour. 'N come back wit more kindlin' fer de fire."

"Yes, sir," Verity could hardly hold her excitement. Even if it was tough work, at least she could see Jack and be out of the horrible stench that was her house.

When her father pushed her out the door and closed it, she hugged the unsuspecting Jack. Jack was stunned at first, but soon returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her. Verity snuggled into it happily, as any kid would in a friendly embrace. She was sure her smile was painted permanently on her face.

"You stink," were the first words he had said to her in a week. It was true, but Verity saw that he had said it with a lopsided grin. She laughed and said she would wash up at the river before they went to see what Mr. Burgess wanted.

"Oh, there isn't actually any work," Jack told her, "I just wanted to go for a hike through the woods and climb some trees and I needed someone to go with me," he took her hand and they were off.

And she couldn't have been happier.

* * *

**A/N: Yay, that was cute. :) Part 1 has concluded, Parts 2, 3, and 4 have yet to come! I know it seems like a lot for simply viewing a memory case, but trust me, the story is worth it. I'll update sooner than planned if you readers ask me to!**


	29. Cinder's Memories, Part 2

**A/N: So I had edited this before, but then it all got deleted and I had to rewrite it from scratch. I tried all that I could think of to get the original file, but nothing worked. It was really disheartening and I know the writing isn't going to be as good as what it had been. Hopefully it's still okay though and you guys like it!**

**I've even done a drawing of Jack and Verity that you can find the link to on my profile! It's nothing mature. It's super adorable though. Check it out!**

**Also, I've reached over 4,000 views! Even if it might not be a lot by this fandom's standards (I'm not sure), I'm pretty proud of it! Thanks to all of you reading this!**

**WARNING: Abuse.**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 29** \- _Cinder's Memories, Part 2_

* * *

The memories blended one into the other as the years continued. The ethereal watchers gleaned from these memories that nothing was both distinct and separate. The friendship between Verity and Jack was the most vivid, but neither watcher felt that it was entirely separate. The entities floated in and out with pieces of information that had probably been overlooked during the actual timeline. Every small smile, every little action, held more significant meanings. One ethereal watcher, however, could not misplace the feeling that it was the wrong girl. The personality didn't match. But the connection was genuine, and the other ethereal watcher reassured the former of just that, since it had lasted over six years at this point.

The pair was laying in a small clearing just outside of the village's view. The green grass had grown past their waists, making the place perfect for grass-angels. Patting down the blades of grass, they created a bridge to each other's spots by grasping each other's hand. From the village, it was impossible to see that anyone was there. Verity thought it was the perfect meeting spot for her and Jack before they embarked on a new adventure. But some days they just stayed in the field and talked. Some days that was exactly what Verity needed. One day Verity was telling Jack about a hilarious event she had witnessed the other day. Jasper had tried to talk to this one girl and must have said something inappropriate because she smacked him hard and Jasper ran away with the most hurt look on his face. Jack was laughing harder than she had anticipated him to, however, and she asked him why.

"Actually," he tried to catch his breath from the giggle fit, "I told Jasper that she liked him," another breathless laugh, "and that she told me to tell him to go talk to her!" He was holding his stomach, lines creasing his eyes.

"Jack!" Verity stopped in her tracks and glared at him. "That's so rude!"

"Payback is supposed to be rude," Jack justified himself as he sat up. The blades of grass tickled his features as he looked back at the redhead splayed in the bed of grass.

"If he comes after you, and I'm not saying you'd deserve it, but, I'm not helping you out of the fight he's sure to start," Verity sat up and poked him square in the chest.

"Oh yeah?" Jack poked her right back. "I don't know if you really have the muscles to help, anyway," he joked playfully. Jack dodged away from Verity's next playful attack. Then he had an idea as he stood.

"Jerk," Verity pushed him and stuck out her tongue, closing her eyes in the gesture. But when she opened her eyes Jack was nowhere to be seen. How was this possible? He had been right in front of her only a moment ago. He hadn't lain back in the grass, Verity would have heard the swishing of the grass. "Jack? I know you're just hiding," Verity didn't sound very confident as she stood, looking in every direction. "Jack...? Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you a jerk. I mean, you were totally a jerk, but I still didn't mean it. Don't disappear like this! I'm sorry, Jack!" She was about to turn again, making it a full circle, when she bumped her forehead against something solid. Verity yelped as she gripped her head and reeled backwards.

"Ow," Jack was hanging upside down from a tree branch above. "You have a hard head, you know that?"

Verity pouted. "Adding insult to injury, are we?"

"You're the one who ran into my face," Jack tried to poke her nose, but being upside down made it slightly difficult. His finger wavered in concentration, and when his finger finally connected with her upper lip instead, Verity responded with a series of giggles. The fact that Jack was trying so hard was very comical. Cheering her up was one of his favorite pastimes, one at which he was very successful nine times out of ten.

"Get down, Jack," she shook her head thoughtfully. He complied with a rueful smile. He swung his legs around and tumbled onto the grass at her feet, grinning up at her like a goof. Verity laughed as she pulled him up onto his feet and began walking away. Accompanying her back to the village, Jack thought about pulling the same trick on her. But considering he didn't particularly like getting bumps on his head, he settled for something different. Jack slowly relaxed his pace and let Verity take the lead. She was off in her own world, as usual, making her the perfect target. She knew that Jack would never hurt her. He would certainly never prank or play a trick on her twice in the space of a few minutes.

Okay, that last statement was wrong.

In a measured rush, Jack wrapped his arms around Verity's waist and hoisted her up into the air, feet barely brushing the ground. Her fearful shriek changed into one of dreaded laughter. Jack grinned, giving her a look before running off deeper into the woods with her on his shoulders. Verity flailed her legs and swatted his back with her small ineffectual fists, giggling as he ran to some unknown destination. Jack spun her around, dizzying her even more before she felt her weight lift into the air. Then Jack's hands were gone. In one sickening heartbeat, Verity began to freak out. Had Jack tripped? She thought she heard him say something about keeping her arms about, but before she could comply, warm water engulfed her figure. The water went over her head and some found its way down her throat. Kicking up to the surface, Verity glanced upward and blinked the water away. Up above the bank, Jack was hysterically laughing with tears in his eyes. Two could play at this game.

Verity ducked back into the water and swam silently toward the bank. Before Jack knew what happened, his ankle was soaked and yanked downward. Slipping in the mud, Jack's "whoa" was muffled by the sudden intake of water. Verity had dragged him into the pond with her. When he came back to the surface, Verity was a few feet away, treading water and laughing at him. Jack smirked and lunged at her. He caught her side and spun her around in the water, his feet anchored in the muddy bottom. Once he was going fast enough, he let go of Verity and she sailed further into the pond. Her world kept spinning for a few seconds, Jack's laughter swiveling in her mind. When she was treading again, Verity launched a large splash in his direction. Shaking his head, Jack stuck his tongue out, mocking her. Verity, in a split second, starting swimming past him, challenging him to a race. This was largely unfair, because they both knew that Verity was the better swimmer. Jack may have taught her, but Verity had an ambitious personality. It was strange how that disappeared when she was at home, but home was far, far away from the present moment. Despite having drenched her last clean dress, Verity was in high spirits.

This was how they spent most of their time together. Eventually, some of the younger kids that Jack had taken to watching while their parents worked would play with her, too. They didn't care about her hair; they played games with her anyways. At the age of sixteen, Verity was already seeing the changes in the new generations of the village. She was becoming accepted as a normal girl. It felt weird. It felt right.

* * *

One day a little blond girl came up to Verity, asking if she could do a braid in her hair like the one Verity had in hers. Verity knew this girl, although not directly. But there was no reason to think differently about this girl. She was innocent. They were on common ground.

"Sure thing, Alison," she pat the ground next to where she sat and Jasper's little sister sat down. The patch of dirt they were on was one of the few spots where snow had melted early. It was late winter and early spring, being around March, and it was one of the few first nice days of the year. Alison had a doll in her hands and she was busy playing around with it while Verity worked at her hair. She enjoyed braiding hair, but never had another person's hair to work with. Doing one's own hair was always so different. Of course, she'd tried to braid Jack's hair, but he mandated that she would have to catch him first. Then he would proceed to run away, leaving her to chase after him to no avail more often than not. One time she did succeed, but the poor braid that resulted was hardly worth the effort. But it had been worth the laughter. Verity's delicate fingers laced through the girl's golden straight strands, piecing and weaving together expertly.

Jack came over with a little girl close to his side. Verity had seen her around the village before, but never away from Jack. She seemed oddly attached, but Verity smiled at her and waved. Perhaps she could get the girl to come out of her shell. The little girl only slid further behind Jack and he laughed.

"Sophie, it's okay. That's Verity. She's a friend," he placated to her, ruffling her hair. She pouted and swat at his hand weakly.

Verity smiled at the embarrassed little girl. She reminded her of herself when she was younger. "Hi, Sophie," Verity's voice softened. "Do you want your hair braided, too?"

"Hey, me first!" Alison piped up. The little girl turned toward Verity and the other two with sass dancing in her eyes.

Verity laughed. "Of course, Alison; I meant after I was done with yours." Although in reality, Verity's hands were already beginning to numb from the weather. It was nice out, comparative to last week's snowstorm, but it was still chilly. Occasionally, Jack would try to warm her hands with his, but Verity wouldn't let him do that this time. He'd attempt to ruin the braid, she knew it. She'd known him for too long. The braid was nearly done and she inwardly groaned about doing another one, but Sophie looked like she really wanted to have her hair done. She was just really shy.

"Okay!" Alison looked to Sophie. "Do you wanna play with my doll?"

Sophie peered at Jack for permission. "Sure," the little girl peeked out from behind Jack's legs and walked over. She sat down carefully next to Alison and looked up to Jack again. It was as if she was afraid that she was doing something wrong.

"I'll sit right here behind you," Jack assured her and took the spot next to Verity. Laying his legs out straight in front of him and on either side of Sophie, she grabbed his legs protectively. Smiling at her, he whispered quietly to Verity: "That's my little sister. She hardly ever gets out of the house."

"Reminds you of someone, doesn't it?" Verity smirked, pulling another section of hair from the left side of Alison's head.

"Oh, not you," Jack elbowed her playfully. The reaction made Verity tug at Alison's hair.

"Careful!" Verity warned him. "I'm almost done Alison's hair." She narrowed her eyes at him but Jack just shrugged it off. He knew she wasn't threatening, but it was fun to see her try. She'd warmed up considerably compared to her ten-year-old self, and Jack prided himself in propelling that change. He knew she needed some fun in her life.

"Yeah! Don't mess it up!" Alison pointed to him and narrowed her eyes, copying Verity. Jack laughed at her face and promised that he wouldn't move an inch. Sophie and Alison played together at their feet while Jack and Verity spoke softly behind them. After all these years, they still spoke as often as they could. On this particular day, it was the first time they spoke to each other in a little over a week. They hardly went a few days without taking the other away from their homes out of pure boredom. Mainly, Jack found his way to her house and stole her away from under her father's nose. Sometimes he was caught and told to leave, and other times the father was already passed out from drinking. Verity still preferred to meet him at the clearing rather than risk him being seen at her house, but Jack couldn't have cared less about that. If he was bored and wanted to have some fun, he'd run to her house no matter what. Sometimes it was in the middle of the night when he came to grab her. Those times had been especially fun, but they had to stop because Verity would end up oversleeping from exhaustion. And _that_ never went over well with her father.

The years that passed hadn't made it any easier on Jack, seeing what Verity was going through. He learned later on that her mother had died in childbirth and that everyone thought her a monster, including her father. Although she would never admit it, Jack knew that the marks and bruises were from her father. She insisted she was just really clumsy, but Jack had heard her father yelling one night and put the pieces together. Even if he never saw him hit her, Jack knew Verity was in constant danger and he couldn't do anything about it. Nevertheless, Jack did everything he could to make her smile. It wasn't too hard these days, but he still did all that he could, regardless. He always enjoyed her company. He taught her how to be cheerful and carefree, although she was hardly the latter case.

"Hey, Sophie," Verity interrupted one of Jack's whispered sentences to speak sweetly to his sister, "I'm done Alison's hair and she has to go back home for a little bit. Do you still want me to do yours?"

Sophie's face had panic written all over it; she suddenly didn't want Alison to leave. She looked to Jack with a worried expression and Jack simply laughed and poked her nose, making her wrinkle it. Her face went from fearful to cheerful faster than Verity could blink. It seemed that Jack had that effect on everyone.

"It's okay, Sophie," he placated again, "Alison will come back and I'm still here."

Sophie nodded and then looked at Verity with a wide, toothy smile. "Yes, please," she said as she scooted in between Verity's legs so that she could reach Sophie's hair with ease.

"She has more manners than a certain person I know," Verity nudged Jack in the ribs, soft laughter escaping her lips. Jack sniveled at her and laughed along.

"Sorry I don't come around as much," Jack picked up where he left off, "I've had to take care of Sophie more often now that my father's gone." He had finished explaining that his father had gone off on a village-wide hunt that the men regularly participated in before the winter settled in and meat became scarce. His father hadn't come back, and hardly anyone wanted to tell the cheerful kid that his father was dead.

"Oh, that's fine," Verity waved a temporarily free hand at him. "I've been busy at home anyway. My father's getting older and more senile by the day."

"I'm pretty sure the last part isn't because of his age," Jack ventured.

Verity huffed air out of her nose as a sign that she thought it was funny, but not very funny. Jack knew that he hit a sore spot and decided not to pry. "Yeah, well, I still have to deal with it, and we're running out of his favorite whiskey."

"Already? I thought you just bought him two kegs' worth the other day?" Jack was incredulous. That man drank more than the entire town combined for an entire year. It was a wonder that the man wasn't dead yet, and a shame.

That time Verity laughed. Her laughter was rare some days, so Jack tried his best to hear it whenever he could. "That was last week, but yeah. I'm supposed to be getting it now," she said as she tied off Sophie's braid. For a finishing touch, she plucked a little orange flower and settled it behind her ear. "There you go, Sophie. Now you're super pretty!"

"The flower looks just like your hair!" Sophie commented as she turned around, pointing at Verity's bright orange locks twisted in a loose braid.

Smiling, sadly this time, Verity nodded. She understood that it was a compliment, but years of being taunted for it still yielded faded scars. "Yep, it sure does." Turning to Jack, she said, "I better get going."

"I'll go with you," Jack offered.

Verity halted Jack's advance. "No you won't. You have a little princess with you, and princesses need to be taken care of. Right, Princess Sophie?" She leaned down and winked at Sophie.

"Right!" She chirped and grabbed Jack's hand. Sophie was perking up already. "Come on, Jack! Mommy's waiting for us!"

Before Verity turned to leave, she called to Jack. "I'll be back in ten minutes, I promise! Meet me at the pond!" It was too nice a day out to skate, but hanging around the pond still had its perks.

Jack looked back at Verity as she was walking away, her dress swaying with every careful, graceful, step. Despite the increased number of bruises he had seen on her shoulders and back and legs, she still walked as gracefully as she skated on the ice. That was one of the definite reasons why Jack doubted the stories about her life at home. But he could never breach the subject; she always shot it down or changed the conversation.

Verity had walked back to the center of the village on the way to the brewer's place. On her way past the communal campfire, she heard a catcall come from the opposite side. Turning to see who it was, she recognized Jasper leaning against a pile of logs. He'd grown out considerably well. Chiseled and calloused by work in the woods, he was hardly a boy anymore. Still, Verity found him rather unpleasant.

"What do you want, Jasper?"

"Oh I wasn't calling to you, I was calling to the pretty one," Jasper nodded to a girl on the other side of the clearing that paid him no attention, "but I guess you can hold my interest for a few minutes." He walked over to her and stood over her with a fiendish grin slapped on his face.

"Funny, but I've got an errand to run," Verity tried to walk around him but he cut her off.

"What's the rush? If the old man's not dead yet, he'll be dead by the time you get back with his booze," Jasper laughed morbidly.

"I don't care, he's still my father and he'll be angry if I don't go get it before the day is over. Now if you'll excuse me," she tried to skirt around him but was cut off again, his hand landing on her shoulder.

"Why keep doing what that crazy old guy wants you to? Shouldn't you be getting spoken for? Oh, wait," he answered his own question before Verity could say anything, "I forgot. You won't be spoken before because everybody thinks you're a witch. And they'll always think that. You may as well cut off all that hair and become a boy. Maybe we'd all like you better," he jeered at her, pushing her backward.

"Not now, Jasper," Verity was tired of this. In all these years, he never stopped bullying her. Thankfully, Jack had always been there and Jasper usually skulked away. But this time, Jack wasn't there and Verity had to word her way around the situation. "I have plenty of time to be spoken for, I'm only sixteen."

"Most of my family got married off at thirteen," he reasoned, "so you're a little behind. You'll probably end up as on old, unmarried hag, unless that Jackson boy is stupid enough to ask for you. I doubt he ever would; he acts like such a child all the time. You know what he did the other day? I'm sure you do, that idiot can't keep himself away from you; it's like he doesn't know what's good for him."

Verity's defense broke down. Jack didn't think that way about her at all, she was sure, and the same was true the other way around. But even if Jack did think that way about her, she didn't believe she would go through life alone. Her father would probably pick someone for her if he truly wanted her out of the house. But the comment about Jack... she couldn't stand for that.

"Oh? What's this?" Jasper poked her shoulder when he saw her face deadpan. "Was what I said about Jackson true?"

"No," Verity spoke firmly, "and you're an idiot if you think you know anything about him."

"Now, now, Verity," Jasper whispered, suddenly too close for her comfort, "speaking out against a man is very unladylike. But it's also frowned upon for a man to hit an unwed woman," he added as he kicked his foot out behind her knees and pushed her backward, making her trip and fall. Before she could tell what happened, he kicked her in the side and began to walk away. "Even if that woman is a witch," he snickered and sauntered off. Turning around suddenly, he added one last warning: "Tell Jack that if I see him again I'll kick his teeth in."

Verity's tears pooled in her eyes and she stood up and ran, not caring if others were judging her every move. They had been doing that her whole life, and she knew that they would side with Jasper if there was ever a public dispute to be witnessed. Jack didn't deserve any of this, but his involvement with her was going to get him hurt, she realized. Verity ran into the brewer's and bought more whiskey, making like a bandit for her father's house. She set it down on the counter and was about to leave again when her father spoke.

"'N where ye think yer goin'?" His drunken slur had worsened over the years, and the words were getting harder and harder to interpret.

"I got you more whiskey, sir," she pointed to the container on the table.

"Dis place's a mess!" he yelled, spitting everywhere. "Who'd taught ye 'ow to live like dis? It's disgraceful!"

"It's like this every day," she whispered, not wanting to deal with his bone-headed behavior.

"What ye sayin'? I ought to cuff ye fer back-talkin' to yer father. How's ye s'posed to be a wife when ye can't take care of yer old man?"

This was the second comment in one day about her marriage plans, and Verity was getting annoyed. "I thought you'd want me to stay here and look after you," she reasoned.

"Methinks ye need to be bossed 'round by 'nother man. Maybe he'll teach ye 'ow to obey a man's word," her father cleared his throat maliciously.

Verity clenched her fists until the knuckles gleamed white. She finally snapped. "All I ever do is wait on you every second of every day. I clean the house, including your nightly vomits after you've finished enough whiskey to kill a bear, I do the laundry, and I feed your stupid mouth enough for a small army without giving any to myself. Don't you think I deserved a childhood? That I deserved friends? Or maybe a little hint of love from you, my _father? _Because I've seen none of it, and I'm not going to get married to a replica of your sorry ass!"

"Ye li'l wretched witch!" Verity's father's voice boomed louder and spat his saliva all over the house. "I teach ye what happens to a woman who disrespects a man!"

He lunged drunkenly after her and grabbed her arm with more strength than she thought he realized. He pulled her up by her arm to meet her eyes, her feet dangling inches above the floor. She kicked out her legs blindly; the pain in her arm increasing to the point where she wasn't sure she felt blood circulating anymore. He smacked his forehead into hers and she cried out in pain. "If ye think that's all, just ye wait!" He gripped her arm tightly and threw her to the ground, forcing her to land on the same arm with a sickening crunch. Tears fell from her eyes without control and she clutched the broken arm, wailing painfully.

"Git up, wench!" He picked her up by her other arm and slapped her face with his full force, knocking her senseless.

The beating continued for an undeterminable amount of time. At some later point there was a knock on the door and Verity was virtually unconscious, sprawled haphazardly on the floor. Her father had already walked out for the rest of the day and taken the whiskey with him. Verity was vaguely aware of her surroundings, and the urgent knocking at the door rang like church bells in her head, giving her a massive headache. Grasping the chair beside her, she tried to pull herself up and fell in pain when she realized that her right arm was broken. Seeing an old blanket, she ripped off a large triangle and wrapped her arm in a sling around her neck. The knocking continued and she felt like she wanted to fall asleep. She figured it was probably her father coming back, so she took her time getting to the door.

"Verity! Verity! Are you home? Verity!" Jack's familiar voice sounded off in the remainders of her consciousness. Using every scrap of energy she could muster, she opened the door, making sure only to expose the unhurt side of her face.

"Jack?"

"Verity! Oh my God, what happened? You said ten minutes, and it's been an hour! I thought something had happened! I left Sophie at home with Mother so I could go and find you," Jack's worries flew out of his mouth so quickly that Verity hardly heard half of it.

"I must've forgotten," Verity's words slurred slightly, "sorry, Jack."

There was something on Verity's shoulder and Jack's brows furrowed. "What's that around your arm? Did Jasper do that?" He wouldn't mention her father because he knew that she would deny it. This way, she might at least refute the explanation.

"I just fell on my way to get the whiskey," Verity lied, "I promise, it's not as bad as it looks."

Jack didn't believe her in the slightest, but he didn't know what to do. Whenever he suggested a different reality, she pushed him away and shut herself up in her shell. That was the last thing Jack wanted her to do. He had worked so hard to get her to open up to him, and he wasn't about to lose her friendship like that. But what was he going to say? What could he say to make her go with him?

"Look, I don't feel very well," Verity's broken voice interrupted his thoughts, "I think I'm just going to take a nap. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Jack nodded, any trace of happiness gone from his face. There was nothing he could do at this point. "See you," he said halfheartedly.

After Verity shut the door, she slumped to the floor and suffered. Jack didn't need to worry about her. She told him that thousands of times. The fun and the games were enough to make her happy, and she was content to keep it there. Jack was her friend, but he didn't need to know anything that would involve him even more so in her unfortunate life. She wanted to keep him safe, above all. Her first and one of her only friends was not going to become a victim.

Verity sighed and let her good hand fall to the floor, where she felt something underneath her palm. Lifting her hand, she saw that there was a tooth that must have become unearthed at some point during the fight with her father. Picking it up, she figured it must have been one of hers. Feeling around her mouth with her tongue, she couldn't tell if any were missing. It was still sore and swollen on one side, so she took it for granted that she probably lost a tooth in the scuffle. Verity stood up and went to her normal sleeping spot. She didn't have a pillow, but she took her blanket and used the end as a pillow and put the tooth underneath it. _This'll have to do._ She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

The next morning, she awoke to her father snoring loudly from the other side of the one-room cabin. Sitting up on her left hand, she took a minute to fully wake up. Remembering that she put her tooth under her blanket, she tore it away and stared around in surprise. The tooth was gone. The Tooth Fairy had come and taken it, so it must have been hers after all.

She got up and put on a different, cleaner dress from the laundry that she had done the other day. Then she went out and walked to the river, rinsing her hair slowly in the frigid water. It was winter again, but she knew she looked like a wreck, so the trip to the river was worth it. She carefully unwrapped the blanket from her arm and realized it was swollen and out of place. Biting down on the shred of blanket, she reset the bone. Screaming into the blanket, tears fell down her cheeks. It was what she had to do to make sure no one who cared found out. She put the blanket back around her arm and neck, and set to splashing her face with the cold water. Fully awake, she began walking back to her house.

"Verity!" she heard a familiar voice shout in her direction. "Verity! You're okay!"

Turning around slowly, she saw Sophie running straight toward her. Sophie slowed down when she saw the makeshift cast and one black eye. She walked up and hugged Verity's waist carefully.

"Hello, Sophie. How are you doing?"

"I'm good, but why's your arm in a blanket?" the little girl asked innocently.

"I fell on my arm yesterday and it's sore, so I'm making sure that I don't hurt it any further," Verity explained lightly.

"Oh," Sophie didn't really understand, "well, Jack's been worried about you. He really likes you. And if my brother likes you, then I like you, too. "

That hit a spot in Verity's heart. "That's sweet, Sophie," Verity squatted down to her level and put a hand on her shoulder, "you can tell him that I'm okay. He doesn't need to worry so much. Tell him that I'll stop by when my arm's better, okay?"

"Okay..." Sophie's sad voice tapered off unevenly.

"Hun, don't cry," Verity hugged Sophie. "You're out here all by yourself, without your big brother! I'd say you're pretty brave. And brave people don't cry," she pointed out.

"Yeah," Sophie cheered up a little, "thank you, Verity. I'll see you soon!"

"Goodbye, Sophie!" Verity waited until Sophie was out of sight to run back home. If Jack ever came looking for her, she had no intent of him accidentally running into her in the village. She would stay in her house as long as possible so that Jack would calm down and get off of her case, for his sake. Slamming her door behind her, Verity tried to steady her breath. She told herself that she would focus on getting better and making her father trust her again. Then she would hang out with Jack again, and things would be back to normal. This is what she told herself for the three weeks that it took her arm to heal. By that time, most of her bruises were gone and the beatings had been minimal since then. If anything, her father hardly spoke to her at all.

* * *

Her birthday came and passed without much commotion. The village hardly acknowledged her existence, which she had gotten used to, and she doubted that anyone who did care about her remembered it at all. They had their own lives, and she didn't want to slow them down. She was stuck in the middle of time somewhere in the void, and there was no reason to drag unfortunate souls down with her.

Verity knew that she had told Sophie that she would see Jack and her when her arm was healed, but she postponed it as much as she could. She often never left the house out of fear that she might come across them in passing and they would bombard her. One day she snuck out to the back of the house just to do laundry. But when she came back around the side of the house, she saw a slip of paper stuck underneath the door. Letters never came to this house: no one bothered to check up on either of them. Her father said that they had no relatives, so Verity knew it wasn't something like that. Setting the laundry down, she plucked the folded paper and put it in her pocket. After she got inside and hung the laundry by the fire, she sat down on the hearth and took out the letter.

It was on a scrap of old paper, ripped and torn out of a journal. Puzzled still, she flipped the first of the three folds and nearly cried in shock. The top of the letter was addressed to her.

It read:

_Happy Belated Birthday, Verity - _

_I'm getting worried about you. I haven't seen you since the day you left to go get whiskey for your father - almost a month ago. Sophie came to me afterwards and told me you were wearing a blanket around your arm; that you fell on it and tried to heal it. And she said you looked awful, like you were sick. Verity... if your father did that, you have to tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone if that's what you want. But I don't want you to lie to me and ignore me. Please, come see me and let me know you're alright._

_I'm your friend, Verity. Always will be,_

_\- Jackson_

Verity had tears in her eyes. The scratches from the pen and smudge marks from the writing mistakes were everywhere, as if Jack was trying his hardest to bring her back. It was like he made a fitful decision about each and every word he chose, and she didn't know what to do. Jack clearly cared about her well-being, and that was going to make it harder to lie to him about her father. If Jack got involved, Verity knew that he would try and stop her father, and she knew all too well that it would end badly. After debating by the doorknob for what seemed like ages, she tore the letter up and tossed it in the fire. Then she set to work, determined to forget about Jackson Overland.

Every job opportunity that came up she took with great enthusiasm. Her father almost smiled at the change in his daughter's personality. He may have even apologized had he not taken to drinking by ten in the morning, every morning. Despite all of the changes for the better, in his opinion, he couldn't bring himself to forgive her for killing her mother, and he let her know that every night after he drank his fill. Every night for the past seventeen years of Verity's life, she heard the statement over and over. _Aren't you sorry that you killed your own mother just so that you could live? You're a selfish murderer! A murderer!_ She heard it so many times that it slurred together and she knew it by heart, which had been broken every possible way by her father. But there was one night where he fell asleep before he could repeat those words, so ensnared with thorns.

She remembered that night for a long time.

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**A/N: Aaaaannnd things start to go downhill. Very downhill. Sorry about all the tearjerkers. But there's still two more memory chapters, right? Stay tuned for the next installment! (And if you're really nice, I might upload the next piece earlier than scheduled!)**


	30. Cinder's Memories, Part 3

**A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update this earlier today (like I normally do) but I haven't had internet at the house for a few days. It's been very frustrating, but I've been able to do what I can. Like I've said before, the memory chapters are very long. Sorry if that puts off some people, but these are a crucial focal point for the story. (I think this chapter is easily over 6,700 words.)**

**I just want to say thanks to all of the wonderful people who are reading this. I don't care if you're favoriting, following, reviewing, or just reading along. I love you guys so, so, so much. A cookie and heart-warming smile for each of you (trust me, you'll need those for this chapter).**

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**Chapter 30** \- _Cinder's Memories, Part 3_

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It was late evening and Verity was tidying up the last scraps of her father's stupor from the previous night. He had come home drunk and crying, so she let him have his rage fit and watched him collapse into sleep. However, her father hadn't so much as touched her since he had broken her arm, and he had become less violent in his speech. He no longer called her much of anything, or called her really at all. He hadn't been home the entire day, however, and Verity took the precious time to think.

She wished now that she had kept Jack's letter she received the other day. Even though she still planned on not seeing him again, reading his letter made Verity feel closer to him than she had ever been to anyone in her life. It would be her last memory of him, and she feared it would disappear. Her conflicting emotions bewildered her, and she wanted some form of closure. Before her father could come back, she put on her mother's old shawl she had found in a chest and walked out of the house. She was going to make the most of this free day to do what she wanted. Those days were rare for her.

Verity hadn't seen the sun, except through the windows, in a few days. She had spent her time trying to learn how to knit and sew like her mother had done, but the smallest piece would take her hours and come out poorly. During the middle of winter, the shawl came in handy. It wasn't windy, but the temperature had dropped the previous night, making her meager dress essentially useless. The communal fire was going strong, though, so she stood by it a little while. Most of the people that were standing around the fire moved to another side or left when she walked up. That was normal for her, but it still summoned sour thoughts into her mind even if she was outwardly indifferent.

When she felt warm enough, she tightened her shawl around her and took to the path toward the pond. The trees above were bare, a few dead leaves still clinging to the hope that they could stay high in the air until spring arrived. The squirrels that hadn't gone into hibernation yet were hanging onto thin branches, nibbling on anything they could find. A few were on the ground; their little paws making no noise, even in the thick snowfall. The pale, cloudy sky gave no hints as to the time of day, but Verity guessed it wasn't too long past midmorning. Hopefully, it wouldn't matter what time it was.

Once she made it to the pond, Verity took the scene in slowly. The ice was thick and nothing stirred beneath or above it. The air was still, as were the trees. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the part of the pond where a tree jutted out over the ice and used it as a way to steady her body. It had been a while since she had been on the ice, and she had no idea if she could still keep her balance like she used to. Out on the ice, she let go of the branch and used her boots as skates, making for the middle of the pond. Boots were considerably different from skates, but Verity wasn't complaining. The open air, without people around to judge her every action, was freeing and the stench of alcohol was nowhere to be found. Readying herself, Verity began to spin in circles and lift her leg during figure eights and rediscover old tricks. She skated around in her boots for some time before someone's voice spoke up across the ice.

"Hey, do you want skates for that? It'd be a little easier."

Verity whipped her head around and nearly lost her balance. Catching herself without anything but her boots touching the ice, she spun her body around to see exactly who she knew she would see: Jack. His sister, Sophie, was also with him, already trying to strap on her skates. Verity noticed that Jack had an extra pair slung over his shoulder.

Jack smiled from the pond's edge. He had meant to stop in the village to see if Verity would answer her door, but here she was, practically at his doorstep. He wondered what changed her mind, and if she had gotten his letter. The days were long after he slipped the paper he tore out of his father's journal under her door, and Jack was worried that he had been too forward. All of the words he put on that paper were true because she was a good friend, and Jack wanted to see her smile. But seeing Verity spinning around in her boots on the ice, looking like she didn't have a care in the world for once, encouraged Jack.

"Jack, Sophie," Verity started sliding over to them, but stopped a few feet away from the edge of the pond. She still wasn't sure if this was what she wanted, but she decided to just go with whatever happened today. Her father was getting better and her spirits were vaulting into the sky. "Hi, guys. What's up?"

Jack looked at her incredulously. They hadn't so much as seen each other in weeks and "what's up" is all she could say? He took a deep breath and told himself that there must be a good reason that she's happy and out and about, so he shouldn't be angry. Sophie, on the other hand, jumped onto the ice in her skates and made her way clumsily over to Verity.

"Verity! I missed you!" Sophie shouted as she clashed into Verity's hip. "And you got rid of your arm blanket!"

A laugh escaped her lips. "That I did. It's all better. And did you really miss me?" Verity asked as she squatted down to Sophie's eye level.

Sophie threw her arms around Verity in a strong hug. "Yeah," her voice was muffled by Verity's shawl, "and so did Jack. Did you get his letter?"

Jack looked up when his sister mentioned the letter. Verity nodded, but her face didn't change. Instead, she swooped up the six year old up and spun her in circles. Sophie dissolved into giggles and begged for more spinning.

"I think you should let her put on real skates, first," Jack suggested. "You don't want her slipping and falling, right?"

"No! 'Cause then she'd break the ice and fall through!" Sophie giggled and Verity caught on when she saw Jack chuckling into his hand.

"Did you just call me fat?" Verity stole away the little girl and began to tickle her. Sophie laughed loudly and surrendered, apologizing so that Verity would let go. Verity then made her way to the edge where Jack was holding out the extra pair of skates. When she reached out to grab them, however, Jack pulled them away and held them out again. She tried to grab them faster, but Jack pulled them away again, smirking. This time, he apologized and held them out loosely. Verity sighed and thanked him, reaching both hands out to take them, only to realize he had pulled them away again.

"Jack! Stop playing these old tricks, they don't work," Verity put her hands on her hips, Sophie now close behind.

"If they don't work, why are you smiling?" Jack's lopsided grin couldn't contain itself. She had walked right into that one.

Verity's face deadpanned to show that she didn't think it funny, but only for a few seconds before she looked away and grinned. "Alright, fair enough. Can I have the skates now?" She held out her hand impatiently.

"Hmm," Jack held them in the other hand while his now free hand stroked his imaginary beard, "I don't know, that wasn't a very nice way to ask." He tossed the skates over his shoulder and mimicked Verity, placing his hand on his hips.

Verity heard Sophie giggle behind her. "Can I have the skates now, _please?_"

Jack pursed his lips. "I still don't think that was the right way. It looks like I'll just have to take the skates back." He had already started turning around to run away with the skates.

"Hey!" Verity hopped off the ice and ran after him. Remembering before she got too far, she turned back. "Sophie, off the ice until one of us comes back!"

"Okay! Tackle him!" Sophie encouraged her as she glided carefully off the pond.

Verity laughed at the advice and took off in Jack's direction. Without warning a branch hit her stomach. The jerk must have tied it back, waiting for her to run into it. Already losing a lot of ground, Verity pushed past the annoying branch and broke it. He already had a moderate amount of time ahead of her, but the snow on the ground made it easy to track him. Even after this month of forcing her own isolation, here she was, chasing him down again. Shaking her head at the silliness, she picked up the sides of her dress and sped up.

But somewhere along the way, the tracks stopped and Verity halted abruptly. She swore she saw his cloak just around a tree, and she ran to grab it and pull him back. But when she got around the tree and pulled on the cloak, she saw that it was hanging by a branch instead of being worn by a certain trickster. Swearing under her breath, Verity took the cloak and put it on. Two could play at this game, too. Running in what she knew to be the wrong direction, she hoisted herself into a nearby tree and clambered onto one of the higher branches. But Jack knew how to track and he would easily find her there. Seeing a thicker tree branch belonging to another tree, she inched along the current limb and jumped. Grabbing onto the branch she aimed for, she brought herself to a sitting position with her back against the main body of the tree. There she waited silently, just barely above many people's eye level. The shadows of the branches above her would have to mask her presence as best they could.

After a few minutes, Verity was worried Jack had actually shaken her off and gone back to the pond. She was about to climb down when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Making herself as small as possible, she hugged the branch with as much stealth as she could muster. Jack popped into the area below her, looking around wildly. He still had her skates held tightly in his hands. Before she made her move, however, she heard him talking.

"Verity! Come on, you weren't supposed to take the cloak! It fell off when I was climbing! We're even now, I swear! Just come out! You were always good at hide-and-seek! Verity, I'm sorry!" The pleas sounded very familiar. Oh, she would enjoy this.

Smirking, Verity dropped down to her feet behind him and leaped at the unsuspecting boy. "Gotcha!"

Jack let out a shocked gasp and they fell to the ground. He threw the skates to the side so that they wouldn't accidentally cut Verity. They wrestled for a few moments before breaking apart in breathless laughter and Verity leaned over Jack in triumph. The scene in their eyes was one of innocence, but anyone else could see deeper. Verity's face was close to Jack's and his breath hitched at the sight of her amazingly rare smile. They stared at each other momentarily before Jack cleared his throat.

"Alright, you got me," Jack surrendered, "but I still want my cloak back."

Verity smiled and undid the knot around her neck, hanging the thick cloak above them only to yank it away when he tried to grab it. He grinned at her and shook his head. Their faces were so close. They could just...

"Only if I get my skates back," Verity bartered, breaking off Jack's thoughts.

"They're my old ones, technically," Jack pointed out. Verity threw the cloak over his head and darted for the skates. When Jack lifted the cloak, he saw that she had already run off again. _Since when did she get so much energy?_ Maybe he didn't have to worry about her father after all.

When he got back to the pond, Jack saw that Verity was teaching Sophie how to spin on her skates. Sophie kept falling, but because she was still small and the ice was thick, the ice didn't crack as easily. It had snowed the previous night, although it would probably be the last snow of the season. Sophie looked like she was getting frustrated, but Verity's patient voice carried to Jack's ears and he knew Sophie was going to get back up. She did just that and Verity held her hands out, instructing again the finer points of pulling off a tight spin on skates. Jack went to put on his skates that he dropped by the pond before running off with Verity's pair when he saw that they had been tied up to a high branch above him. Shaking his head, he climbed up the tree and got his skates. By the time he got onto the ice, Sophie had completed her first successful spin and Verity has clapping excitedly.

"You got it, Sophie! Good job," she praised the little learner. "And nice of you to join us, Jack," she added innocently.

Jack sneered jokingly at her. "It seems I misplaced my skates. I could have sworn I left them on the ground... not in a tree."

Sophie giggled. "That was my idea."

"Oh, it was?" Jack glided toward Sophie and spun her around before tripping her. She didn't actually fall because Jack was still holding onto her hands, but Sophie shrieked anyway.

Verity laughed and skated away before she got pulled into their little game. With real skates on, she tried to remember her old tricks correctly. The spins were sloppy and her skates would catch on the slightest of irregularities, but there was some muscle memory. Verity had her arms out, desperately trying to keep her balance as she lifted one leg behind her. So far, so good. She sucked in a large breath and tipped the edge of her skate forward, hopping into the air. Bringing her other leg back down, she spun around one, two, three times before landing on the other skate and bringing her body into a crouch with the other leg stretched out straight. Finally letting go of her breath, she heard Jack and Sophie applauding her. They wanted to see more. Verity knew that they would probably be disappointed, but she tried anyway. She tried a simple jump and a pirouette (the name being unknown to her at the time). As her spotting point, Verity locked onto Jack and smiled as she spun four times and never left his gaze until she had to snap her neck around to complete each turn. She landed the move a little wobbly, which was a first, but it went unnoticed by her audience. Jack couldn't help but give her another lopsided grin, hardly thinking about how he looked. Smiling so wide her mouth hurt, she tugged Jack and Sophie into the spin and proceeded to make them very, very dizzy.

When Sophie fell into another giggle fit, they helped her up and skated around for the better half of the day. They finally noticed it getting dark and went to the edge and took off their skates.

"I better get going," Verity's familiar excuse began again, and Jack couldn't help looking at her worriedly. She had been so happy today, it seemed. Was she only putting on a brave face after all?

"Okay," Jack let it go. He figured the fun would only work on her in the short term, but he had still hoped something would have changed. If she had read the letter, perhaps this was her way of telling him that she was okay without saying or admitting to anything. Jack clenched his fist, knowing he didn't change anything, and relaxed it. He was about to say "I'll see you later," but he was no longer sure if that would be the case. Verity could hide away in her house for another month again and Jack would have made no progress. Instead, he kept his lips shut tightly.

"Bye, Verity!" Sophie ran up and hugged Verity again, and a look of sadness washed over her delicate features. She had missed them, but she knew days like this wouldn't happen often. It was fun while it lasted, and her face hurt from all of the endured laughter.

"Goodbye, Hun," she smoothed Sophie's hair down with a tentative hand.

"Will we see you tomorrow?" Her hand stopped in its tracks.

Verity bit her lip. "I'm not sure, Sophie. We'll see, okay?"

Jack knew what that meant, but ignored it. "Come on, Sophie. Let's get you home."

Verity, instead of going straight home, watched them leave for their house, built close to the pond. Sitting on a nearby stump, she wondered if her father was already home. If he was waiting for her to get home so that he could yell at her about various things, and maybe land a hit or two on her arms. Verity stripped her aching feet of the skates and set them aside. Sighing, she stood up to leave when Jack reappeared.

Before she could say anything, Jack spoke first. "Hey, I had Sophie go home ahead of me. I figured we could skate on our own, without pulling up a six year old every few seconds."

Verity shook her head in amusement. Jack may be a good prankster and trickster, but he wasn't a very good liar. "I didn't mind that, it was nice being able to teach someone." Besides, she had just taken her skates off.

Jack nodded agreement. He knew he couldn't lie that well, and Verity knew him better than most people. Handing her the skates again, he slipped his own on and made for the middle of the pond. This was the first step. When he turned to look at her, she was still holding the skates in her outstretched hand at the edge of the pond. And the first step was incomplete already. Jack had to find a way to get her onto the ice.

"I told you I had to go home, didn't I?" She spoke up to cover the distance between them. "My father's going to be upset that I'm not back yet."

Jack slid his way back to her, pouting pleadingly. "Please, Verity? Just a few minutes, I promise. Then you can be on your way. I bet he got home and went immediately to bed."

"You don't know that."

"Please?" His pout didn't budge. He knew she had a thing for his childish behavior.

Verity succumbed. "Okay. Alright," she mumbled as she put the skates back on. She pushed her sore feet─ covered in bruises from the worn down skates─ back into the leather and winced as she tried to hide the pain.

They skated around for a few minutes in silence. Jack watched each flick Verity made on her skates with interest and amazement. She was still graceful, and he was glad a month of staying at home hadn't made her into a boring adult just yet. The moonlight, still weak in the early night, shone around the edges of her red hair and gave off a slight halo whenever she spun. Her thin arms spread out in the brisk night air and curved delicately with every turn she took or trick she performed. Whether or not she was aware of it, Verity's smile widened every time she accomplished a trick and Jack encouraged and applauded her. Sighing, he realized what he had to do to preserve her grace and her smiles that he treasured. Step two.

When she had to catch her breath, she skated over to the rock in the middle of the pond and sat down lightly, as if she was about to spring back up at any second. Jack went over and sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a little while. It was Jack who broke the tension.

"The stars are pretty bright tonight," Jack commented, "like a bunch of tiny frozen lights."

Verity laughed. "I think they look more like a billion sparks of fire, but I guess ice works, too."

Jack hummed in acknowledgement and a silence settled between them again. Normally the silence between them had been companionable. Verity could sense that something was off, but she didn't want to make it worse. She peered at him through the spaces in her red hair and saw that he was looking toward the moon thoughtfully. His gaze was intense and far off, and she wondered not for the first time that day what he was thinking. It used to be so easy.

"I should get going," Verity repeated and began to stand up when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist tightly.

"Wait," Jack urged her to sit back down, "I have something I want to ask you."

Verity bit her lip but nodded anyway. _One last thing couldn't hurt, could it?_ She sat back down and looked at him expectantly.

Taking that as his cue, Jack took a deep breath. "The accident with your broken arm, and the burn marks, and the bruises that cover your shoulders and back, and the occasional black eyes... they're not really accidents, are they?"

And as usual, Verity's rhetorical questions were proven wrong. "I don't know what you're talking about," was Verity's automatic response. Jack had asked her before about this, and she constantly told him that her father had nothing to do with them. "Of course, they were accide─"

"There's no way they were accidents," Jack cut her off, his words coming out all at once with more emotion than Verity was prepared for, "because you are not that clumsy. I saw you on the ice tonight. Even after all this time, you can still twist and jump as gracefully as the first day that I brought you out here. I barely taught you the basics and you were already ahead of me. The way that you carry yourself, on and off the ice, is as graceful and beautiful as the birds that fly higher in the sky than we could ever hope to climb. So there's no way that you fall or trip or burn yourself _accidentally_ as often as you say you do."

"Jack, I told you, they were accidents. Accidents ha─" Verity stopped herself midsentence. "Did you just call me beautiful?"

"Of course you are," Jack realized it himself just then what he had said. He had to let her know that he meant it. "You're really beautiful, amazingly so."

Verity considered his statement with the ghost of a smile on her lips. Then something changed her mind and she frowned. "No," she looked away from him bitterly, "that's impossible. I'm just a good-for-nothing redheaded witch. My father knew that from the beginning." She had turned away from him, hoping she could stifle her own tears before he noticed.

"That's not true," Jack moved onto the ice, still sitting, trying to see Verity's face more clearly, "Verity, that isn't how I see you."

Verity's eyes started to tear up against her will. Jack was making it increasingly difficult for her to keep him out of the situation. She felt like she made a mistake in staying on the ice with him.

Then she heard Jack whisper, "I know a way to get you away from him."

Verity turned around, surprised to see him in front of her instead of beside her. She had felt so distraught that she hadn't noticed that he had moved. "What are you talking about? Away from my father?"

"Hold out your hand and close your eyes," Jack said suddenly, a light appearing in his eyes. It was so out of the blue that Verity did a double take.

"What sort of game have you come up with now? And what does this have to do with my father?"

"Just believe in me, okay?" Jack looked at her in earnest. Verity couldn't simply ignore that look. It was the look that made her decide to hang out with him time after time over these seven years. "I'm going to drop an object in your hand, and without closing it, you're going to tell me what you think the object is."

Verity sighed in agreement and closed her eyes, only to peek through one slit eye in Jack's direction. He was about to take something out of his pocket when he turned to look at her. His face softened when he looked at her, and Verity's heart thudded, not knowing what to think. Then he leaned closer and put his hand over her eyes. He had seen what she was doing.

"Hey! You were peeking!" Jack scolded her through a badly suppressed laugh.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Verity apologized as she gently set Jack's hand down and away from her face. "I promise I'll do it right this time," she said as she closed her eyes and held out her left hand again.

Jack's heart was racing so quickly that he was scared she could hear it. His hands shook slightly and he worried that he would mess it up somehow. Reaching into his pocket, he held the object in between his fingers momentarily. Sighing with finality, he took it out of the pocket and dropped it into Verity's open hand. He saw her face frown in concentration. After a few seconds, he saw her trying to curl her fingers around the object. Jack took his hand and laid it over hers to stop her from making a fist. Her hand nearly shot away, but Jack grabbed a hold gently. It was so cold that Jack felt bad he hadn't brought mittens for her.

"I said without closing your hand, silly," Jack smiled.

"But it's impossible to tell!" Verity whined, finally opening her eyes. "And you're still holding my hand."

Jack mumbled an apology and moved his hand away carefully, revealing the object in her hand. It was a silver ring with a blue opal in the shape of a heart twisted within the metal. Green specks danced in and out, under and over crystalline blues and purples. The stone looked like it was alive, shifting its luminance underneath the moonlit sky. Verity looked down with shock. That only meant one thing.

"J-Jack! W-what is...? No. No. You don't know what you're thinking or, or doing. Jack, this, this is," Verity's chest nearly heaved. "This isn't right! It's─ It's─"

"It's the way to get you out of your father's house," was all Jack could say. He knew it was true. If he married Verity Walker, she would become Verity Overland have to live with him and his family. She would no longer be under the abusive tyrant's dilapidated roof. She would be with people who cared about her. And Jack would be with someone he cared about as much as his family. It wasn't the best of plans, and Jack felt entirely unprepared, but at least it had a happy ending.

Verity bit her lip and a weight sunk in her stomach as she stood. "Jack, I told you, my father doesn't─"

"Yes, he does," Jack stopped her, standing up as well. "He beat you. He hurt you. And I can't stand for that anymore." He knew it to be true. She knew it to be true. It was out.

A single tear streamlined down Verity's cheek and clung to her chin for a moment before falling into her hand. "Jack, my father will never allow this."

"I can make him change his mind."

"No, Jack, you can't. You don't know him. I don't even think you know what you're doing, Jack. This isn't what you want. _I'm_ not what you want─"

Jack put a finger to her lips. It was the first time he'd touched any part of her face. He'd kept a respectable distance from such a fair lady because that's how he was taught. But in this moment, formalities were forgotten. "Yes, you are. And this _is_ what I want, Verity. I want this for you. You won't have to be scared of him anymore."

When Jack said those words, Verity's entire defenses shut down and she began to cry uncontrollably. She mumbled incoherently about there being no hope of her escaping her father. She admitted to everything her father ever told her and did to her and fell into harder fits of tears and hyperventilation. Hugging Jack suddenly, she sobbed into his chest. Then she felt his arms wrap around her protectively and she began to cry harder. She'd never had a sweeter embrace, let alone any embrace, in her life.

"There's always hope," Jack whispered to her when she calmed down in his arms. "You just need to hold onto it. Come on, let's get you home. I'll come by first thing tomorrow to talk to him," Jack said as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Verity was about to protest when she looked up into his eyes. They were a deep, soothing brown that told her everything was going to be alright. She let herself fall into their gaze and hugged him tightly once more. Another look in his eyes and Verity swore she felt the urge to lean into his lips. But that could wait. Just one more night in that house, and she could kiss him. Little did she know, Jack was thinking along similar lines.

Jack walked her back home. To their collective relief, Verity's father wasn't even home yet. But before he could come back, Verity hugged Jack one last time and said goodnight. Once he left, she closed her door and grabbed her blanket, settling down for what she believed to be the last night in this house. Hope fluttered by her, and she captured it, eagerly awaiting the morning.

* * *

Jack told his mother about his plans for the morning; news which she handled with care. She wasn't necessarily approving of the attempted break from tradition, but she wasn't ignorant of the situation. She knew, everybody knew, but Jack and his family seemed to be the only ones with hearts. Jack then told Sophie that he would take her skating when they got back. After all at home was taken care of, he set out for Verity's house.

Reaching the cabin at the far side of the village, he took time to collect himself. Fear rattled in his chest ferociously and he wasn't sure if he would be able to do it. Jack wasn't even sure he was ready to marry. He told himself that this was to save Verity and see her smile again, which was true, but he knew already that it was something he wanted, too. He loved her, plain and simple, although he never attached the name. With the hopes that she felt the same way, he knocked firmly on the door.

The tall, older, drunk man answered the door. "Who're ye?"

"I'm Jackson Overland, Mr. Walker, sir," he stumbled several times. Then he saw Verity sitting down on the hearth just behind her father, her green eyes burning with a glint of yellow from the fire beside her. She looked ready to leave and oh, so beautiful. "And I've come to─"

"Ah, yer Abernathy's boy, aren't ye? De boy forever a child. Old Abernathy'd be disgraced if he saw ye now," he sneered.

Jack grit his teeth, but brushed away the comment for Verity's sake. "I'm here to ask for your blessing for me to wed your daughter," he was able to spit out, his face completely straight.

And the answer he received was a loud roar of laughter. "Yer not serious, are ye?"

"I am, sir."

"No one'd want a wretched murderer for a wife, 'cause that's what yer askin' for," the man laughed again.

"She's not─"

"He's not lying, sir," Verity spoke up, walking over to the door, putting her hand on the doorframe.

That's when her father saw the ring. In a fury, he tore her hand away and hoisted her up by her arm. "What be dis here thing on yer finger?!" He grabbed the ring and tore it off her finger, causing her knuckles to crack and bleed from the force. Verity yelped and Jack's heart lurched. Things were going downhill and they were going fast.

"It was my mother's, and her mother's before her," Jack stepped in, trying to explain.

"Ye think ye can ask me fer my daughter _after_ givin' her de ring?" The burly man pegged the ring at Jack's chest. Shocked, Jack gasped and caught the ring before it fell to the ground. It was enough of a distraction for Jack that Verity's father was able to push him out of the house and slam the door, locking it tight. Putting the ring back in his pocket, Jack hammered on the door, yelling in vain to be let back in. He ran over to the window and looked in to see what was happening.

That's when he saw it. Verity's father back-handed her straight across the face and a line of blood trickled down Verity's lips and chin. Then he knocked her head with his forehead and dropped her, kicking her as she fell. She never fought back. Jack screamed and pounded at the window. He was right. He knew it. And he was too late.

"Verity! Verity!" He slammed the window in protest, wishing he could be in there protecting her. That was when he saw her look up to the window and she mouthed the word "leave." He grimaced and tried to find help in the village, but to no avail; no one cared.

* * *

That night, Jack ran back to Verity's house again. He had seen her father out in the village earlier, looking as if nothing had happened. The sight infuriated Jack and he set off to steal Verity away for the last time. Knocking on the door, he called her name over and over.

When the door opened, Jack saw the true aftermath of one of Verity's _accidents_. She was bruised all over her arms and several places had cuts with dried blood caked in them. She didn't even bother to hide it anymore. Her eyes were dull and virtually lifeless.

"Go away," her voice sounded hoarse as she coughed into her palm. Jack noticed the new blood in her hand and his heart fell out of his chest.

"Verity, we have to go, now," Jack instructed her. "Your father probably won't be back anytime soon, so pack what you really want and let's get out of here."

"And where do we go, Jack?" Verity raised her voice at him. "Hmm? Because my father will come looking for me, and he'll hurt you and your family to get to me."

"That won't matter. We'll run," Jack was desperate for a solution. He needed her to come with him. He couldn't stand to see her like this and it crushed him to see her look so washed out.

"You can't do that to your family, Jack," defeat already echoed in her voice. "They'd miss you." There was little emotion left in her, beaten out of her.

"I'll bring them, too," Jack pleaded, "just, please. Let's go home. Together."

Verity made an effort to scoff but it failed miserably. "I can't have a home, Jack," she cleared her throat painfully, "I never have, never will."

Jack pulled the ring out of his pocket again and pleaded with Verity some more, but she wouldn't take it back. It would only end in disaster, she said. She would get someone in his family killed, she said.

"Verity, please, you don't have to stay under your father's thumb. Where's the brave, adventurous girl I met at the water pump? Where's the girl that smiled every time I spoke to her? I want that Verity." _Please, I want that Verity back. Please, please, just come with me._

The tears cascaded down Verity's face in ugly trails. She couldn't make him understand. What happened to her would happen to them if she went with them. Jack was getting involved and it was getting him hurt. She didn't know what to do to make him turn away. "Jack," Verity spoke in a low voice, "I had all my hope ripped out of me, smacked out of me, and kicked out of me! I had no right to ever hope, and the one time that I dared to, it slipped away from me! I have no hope left. I am not the brave little girl, okay?"

"We can still─"

"No, Jack! We can't, so just leave! I hate you!" Verity yelled and slammed the door in Jack's face. Immediately, she fell to the floor and bawled her eyes out. She heard Jack's footsteps become farther and farther away and her chest heaved. It was the only thing she could say to make him leave, and she regretted it. Jack, angrily stomping his way back to his house, had small beads of tears escaping his eyes. Verity didn't have the strength to pick herself up that night. After messily thinking through her options, she decided to apologize to Jack in the morning. If they could go back to the way things were, maybe things would be close to okay again.

* * *

The next day, Verity slipped out of the house before her father woke up. Sleep had given her time to think, and she had realized her mistake. Verity ran as fast as she could without keeling over in pain. She was sure she had a broken rib, but she didn't care. She had to apologize to Jack. She had to see him. When Verity veered around the corner and the pond came into sight, her heart soared. She was so close.

Then she heard Sophie's screams.

Running up to the edge of the pond, Sophie rammed into her and started sobbing and wheezing and saying several incoherent sentences. Verity kneeled down and looked Sophie in the eye.

"Sophie, calm down. What happened? Where's Jack?"

"He fell through the ice," Sophie managed to say clearly before she fell to tears again.

Time slowed down as Verity took in the information. It was impossible. She had just seen him last night. He couldn't have fallen through, not now. She pulled Sophie away from her and ran onto the ice, barely registering Sophie's tearful pleas behind her. Seeing the break in the ice, she collapsed a few feet away from it and peered through the hole. The water was completely dark and she couldn't see even a glimpse of his pale skin.

"JACK!" Verity let out a loud wail. "Jack! No! Swim back up! I know you can! Jack! You were always the better swimmer... I promise..." Her pleas and appeals got her nowhere, and the reality slowly dawned on her. "JAAaack..." Her cry started out strong and ended in a fitful sob.

Jack was dead.

* * *

**A/N: A horrible end to an excruciatingly long chapter. What is Verity/Cinder left with? And how does she die? Keep an eye out for the next chapter and you'll have answers to my aggravating rhetorical questions!**


	31. Cinder's Memories, Part 4

**A/N: Woohoo! The last pieces of Cinder's memories! It's been a long, soul-crushing journey through these memories (I had to take many breaks when writing these), but I hope they'll be worth it. Pay close attention to this chapter (shorter than the others but still pretty long), as it will be important for the sequel!**

**WARNING: Abuse. Mild Sexual Content. Grotesque imagery. In that order.**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 31** \- _Cinder's Memories, Part 4_

* * *

For the next two months after the incident, Verity shut herself up completely. She never talked. She never left the house. She hardly did any work. She didn't respond to her father's smacks and insults. She hardly ate. She either hardly slept or slept for days at a time. Depression settled deep in her heart, and she berated herself for every little detail about the event every single day. One ethereal watcher wanted desperately to speak to her; to tell her that she had to stay strong. Which watcher had felt this, one couldn't be sure. As entities, they were indistinct with everything around them, including each other.

Verity's last words to him choked her. Every night, her breathing became ragged as the dim light reminded her of what she'd done. None of her reasons or excuses could calm her until sleep came to her. Even then, it came to her in fits. Sleep took away her pain, only to have it wash over fully as soon as consciousness streamed in the next morning; if it could be called consciousness. Verity's once bright green eyes were dull and lifeless as she spent her days listlessly cleaning. The only thing she strove for was the chance to be forgiven by Jack, but that chance was never to come. His ghost would haunt her until she died. Except if it did, Verity would have been okay with that. The sullen emptiness that replaced his ghost was cold and menacing. Days, weeks, months went by before she began to speak again. Not that there was reason to speak anymore. She didn't speak to anyone besides Jack and Sophie. And Verity was fairly certain Sophie wouldn't even look at her if she were forced to do so.

Slowly, Verity recovered, but not fully. Nothing would ever be completely full, she was afraid. Nevertheless, after another drunken stupor of her father's she snuck out to breathe air she hadn't known in so long. Her face was kept solemn as she wandered through the clearing. Not a soul shared the space today. The village hadn't taken to Jack's death well. Despite being known as the childish one, Jack was valued. He could somehow manage to keep the entire village in relative harmony. But now, Verity could feel the stares from the dark windows of the other cabins bearing down on her. Now that Jack was gone, the neighbors rekindled their whisperings. Never shaking off the label of demon child or witch, the elders began to contemplate Verity's role in the boy's death. But today, she was going to ignore them.

Verity was almost out of the clearing when she felt footsteps rushing toward her. Slowing down to a stop, she waited before turning around. Whoever was coming up to her probably had a pitch for or saw with her name on it. They probably wanted some form of revenge, some form of coping mechanism. She closed her eyes and anticipated a blow to keep her view eternally dark. But nothing happened.

"Verity?" Jasper's voice was raspy. He must have run a mile or something. Verity turned her head cautiously but remained silent. "I... I know you were close to Jack," the bully began, suddenly harmless, "and... well, I'm sorry."

The rest of her body spun in his direction, so now facing her lifelong bully. Confusion rippled through her mind. Why would Jasper, of _all_ the people in this forsaken village, apologize? Her eyes grazed his features questioningly, but she found no menace in his demeanor. Verity waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she nodded and began walking away once again. She didn't want Jasper to be the first human being she spoke to after Jack's death. "Alison says she misses you," Jasper called out in an attempt to make the redhead turn around, but it didn't work.

The woods, once cheerful and bright with their green leaves rustling in the wind, were now ominous and eerie. Each step on the old, dead, crunchy undergrowth jarred her concentration. Verity tried to imagine Jack walking alongside her, never making a sound as he leaped through the trees, swinging from them gleefully. A smile almost formed on her lips. Almost. His face wasn't clear, the unforgettable features already deteriorating in her mind's eye. The wind picked up violently for a second, and she wondered if Jack had somehow run by her. Stopping for a moment, she let the gusts play with her dress as her eyes swept over the nondescript tree trunks. One of them had been her and Jack's tree trunk next to the smaller grassy clearing. It was the one where they met, when both could afford to leave their respective houses. Jack often waited in the tree just above her head, while Verity had waited plainly in the grass next to the tree trunk. Verity's eyes glanced up from the trunk, half expecting him to be waiting for her. When his common silhouette was nowhere to be seen, she walked onward. Her heart was heavy─ it had been since that fateful day─ and it took tremendous effort to get as far as she did.

When Verity made it to the house, her left hand was balled in a fist and she held it against the door. The debate raged in her mind: should she talk to them or should she leave? Before she could decide, the door opened.

"Verity!" Sophie jumped up and hugged the frail redhead with all her might. She almost collapsed from the embrace, her bones weak and muscles frail. "Verity!" It sounded like Sophie had been crying. It had been four months since Jack's passing, it now being toward the middle of summer, but neither had gotten used to the missing pieces in their hearts. Letting her defenses fall, Verity reached down and returned Sophie's hug, tears escaping down her cheeks. She kept her tears silent, a cry quivering in her clumped throat.

"I know I'm not Jack, but I'm here for you, Sophie," Verity promised, wiping the tears from her own eyes while still captured by Sophie's hug.

"And I'm here for you," the little girl's voice faltered. Their hug lasted until each felt comfortable, and then they hugged some more. Both of them had to cope, and they found each other.

Verity didn't know what Jack's mother thought of her, not since he left her house that night. His mother said once that she knew what Jack was going to do for her, but when he came back he looked distraught, holding the rejected ring in his palms. But he didn't cry, she'd said. Jack didn't cry. Or if he did, none of them had seen it. Nonetheless, Verity snuck out of the house as often as she could to visit Jack's family. At first, it was hard because Sophie reminded her of Jack. But over time, Verity did everything that she could for the family. She brought them extra food, in place of her own meals, which they didn't know about. She took care of Sophie as often as possible and helped make a substitute grave site for Jack, adding more flowers to it every time she could.

The grave was below the tree root on the opposite side of the pond. Underneath, there was a small sand bar that was shielded from the elements. Jack showed Verity this spot one time during the summer, intending for it to be their new meeting place. He hadn't shown it to anyone else yet, not even Sophie. Verity had found that hard to believe, but Jack had given his word. It was a beautiful spot, hidden in shade but the sands were always warm. They sat there in the late afternoons, watching the sun set over the pine trees. Most of the time, they talked about the grand adventures on which they would go, but sometimes they just sat in companionable silence. It was never awkward and the tension never rose above who would have to go home first. But now that Verity looked back on it, she realized Jack must have been collecting his courage around her. And to think she'd been so oblivious all these years! After beginning to take care of Jack's family, Verity often came back here to sit beside the bed of stones they'd used to build a tiny heart-shaped grave. She would talk to him openly, reliving several memories with him as she stared forlornly at the pond while it lapped at her feet.

* * *

It had become late summer with hot dry air providing no relief to the drought that had overtaken the land. The woods had dried and there had been no rain for weeks. Even the leaves were beginning to droop. Crops were dying and all of the families were suffering. Verity was on her way to collect some water for her violently sick father. The pump creaked and it was much harder to pull the lever. She suffered through several pumps before giving up. Looking in the pail, Verity saw that there was little more than two inches of water. She didn't want to take more than she needed, but would this be enough?

Verity was on her way back to the house when she saw someone at her doorstep, knocking. With dread knotting in her stomach, she realized that Sophie was walking into her house. Looking for Verity, no doubt. The redhead clutched the bucket close and rocketed her way to the house, praying that her father had passed out again. As sick as he was, anyone that walked in the house would be mistaken for his good-for-nothing daughter. Sophie wouldn't stand a chance if he took notice of her.

Almost crashing into the doorframe, Verity set the bucket down and assessed the situation. Everything slowed down. Her father was by the fireplace, feeding it more kindling. It was summer, what was he even doing trying to light a fire? Sure, he was sick, but he wasn't _that _sick. Sophie had walked up behind him and began asking where she could find Verity. But the fire sparked to life as she spoke, causing her father not to hear. On instinct he spun around, a hot stick in his hand, and aimed to smack Sophie. He thought she was Verity. His grimy grimace was set in his features even after the stick made contact with Sophie's face. Verity rushed in and grabbed Sophie pulling her close. Before she could ask what Sophie was thinking, her father stumbled after them, raising his boot. Verity shoved Sophie away, hoping she'd land safely. The boot caught Verity's ribs, creating a sickening thud as she tumbled backward toward the door. His roaring yell echoed throughout the small one room house and he turned his attention back to Sophie. He wanted her to get out. She wasn't allowed here. But he was sick. He stumbled after her, hot stick in hand. Verity was still clutching her side when she ordered Sophie to run. The hot stick came down with a _thwack_, hitting the bed as Sophie ducked. Fear and panic widened her eyes as she ran in the opposite direction. The burning stick was meeting every area of the house besides its intended target. Verity sat up in shock to see that the bed, curtains, and table had set fire. But no one else had noticed yet. She stood up painfully as Sophie hid behind her, blocking another hit from her father's blow. The side of the stick caught her arm, scraping it, but the burning portion caught the door. It created enough friction to catch. The house was burning down.

Before Verity could warn them, another blow hit her stomach and she was thrown to the ground, grazing the burning table. The back of her dress was singed and caused a searing hot brand on her shoulder blades. Her father was delirious with fever and was distracted by the number of people suddenly in his house. Sophie had disappeared again, and the smoke was interfering with Verity's vision. Rubbing her eyes, Verity felt her way around the floor and called Sophie over to her. But the wrong hands found her and she was hoisted into the air. Her father was saying something incoherent, trying to insult her or punish her for being stupid. It didn't particularly matter. Being unable to see anything, Verity felt the ground shock her bones and her father was nowhere to be found. Her heart and lungs frantically fought to keep her conscious as she searched for Sophie. She screamed and coughed, screamed and coughed. The smoke was beginning to be too much, and Verity sunk to the floor. It was then that she saw Sophie hiding under their table, and Verity rushed over to grab her. Sophie leaped into her arms and Verity struggled to make her way back outside. She was almost out in the clear when the building's entire frame collapsed, crushing Verity's midsection. Later, the roof would fall and crush her legs, and a log would roll over and crush her arms. She would burn nearly to death. But at the moment, all she could feel was the white hot searing sensation that tore into her flesh and bones. Crying out loudly, she was blinded with pain. The ethereal watchers cringed, one in sympathy pain, the other feeling it all too tangibly.

Then someone took her hand and placed something in it. Verity tried to look up, but could barely make out Sophie's outline.

"You're safe, Sophie," Verity coughed painfully, "get out of here."

"Jack loved you," Sophie's tearful voice spoke up against the burning atmosphere Verity was being subjected to, "he'd want you to keep this." It was then that Verity felt the ring slip onto her finger again, and she passed out. The black edges in her vision grew and all sound was silenced.

The last thing she had seen had been Jack's ring.

* * *

The ethereal watchers believed that last scene to be the depressing end to the memory case's contents. But a few seconds more and the aftermath was revealed. The house had burned thoroughly, but that could barely be seen in the late night darkness. Something twitched underneath what used to be the entrance. Barely visible was a hand and arm, blackened and little more than bones and cooked muscle. The view closed in and they could make out a bulbous shape with sockets and a jaw. There was no hair. The grotesque form was barely recognizable. Taking into account that this was a memory replay, the ethereal watchers understood who it was supposed to be. The form twitched again, making a grumbling noise almost too low to hear.

"Help... me..." the burnt remains of Verity sputtered fitfully, "please... help..."

Then into view came Pitch. One ethereal watcher immediately tensed, wishing to go after him. Pitch broke apart the charred logs, already withering back to ash and dust, and tentatively pulled at the figure below.

"She's alive?" He muttered, narrowing his eyes. Snapping his fingers, several shadowy figures rose from the ground and awaited instruction. He pointed toward the girl and signaled for them to pick her up. They obeyed and carefully dropped what remained of the girl into Pitch's arms. The figure that had been Verity looked more like a zombie that had been burned instead of beheaded. It was certainly something out of one of those kinds of movies. One ethereal watcher heaved, terrified of the specimen.

Pitch took the body over to a puddle and settled it gently. One ethereal watcher swore that it had been snow, but the memory couldn't lie. The flesh sizzled and the thing groaned faintly. Pitch waited a moment to see the results of his actions, but nothing else occurred. Sneering, Pitch walked away toward a clearing. The ethereal watchers realized it had been Jack and Verity's clearing of grass, but the grass had withered upon the Nightmare King's presence. He angled his neck high into the sky, glaring at the moon.

"Don't you look at me like that, old friend," Pitch scolded the Man in the Moon, "she could see me. You have plans for her, don't you?" The ethereal watchers' hearts soared. If the Man in the Moon was going to revive Verity into Cinder, then she couldn't be bad! But the silence continued. Pitch became impatient. "Save her! I know you can!" Then another unpleasant answer went unheard. "But she can see me! She's the only one after you sent those damn Guardians who can see me! She can't die! I've waited for this for too long! One companion in this world is all I ask for!" The outburst was unnatural for the Nightmare King, and the ethereal watchers were guarded. One of them remembered this scene, which thoroughly confused them. She had been alive when this happened?

Just then, the heap of clustered ash began to move. It stood impossibly thin and indistinguishable.

"If you won't, then I will!" Pitch yelled suddenly and the charred remains began to stumble away in fear. Pitch opened up a part of his robe and called forth a small, spindly creature. It had beady white eyes against its all-black wispy figure. It flew around until it made contact with Verity's burned back and dove under her skin. Then the body fell.

That was supposed to be it. Verity had finally died after suffering for so long. The memories should have faded away, dissipated, returned to the present. The ethereal watchers were supposed to be back on the bed in the spare room at North's Workshop. But the memories continued. The burned body began to glow as new skin formed over the charred remains which were left to simmer under the surface of the new skin. Orange-red hair grew out from the newly formed head and she appeared human again. She was still unconscious when Pitch ordered more shadows to carry her away.

One ethereal watcher became hysterical, tugging at the connection between the other ethereal watcher. They had seen enough. They knew what was happening. The memory case wasn't stopping, which meant that Verity was still alive. Verity had been burned and buried alive, she had been dragged through the forest, her body had sizzled in a puddle, she had been reduced to sticky ashes, and she had been shot by Pitch's nightmare powers. But she did not die. The enraged and frightened ethereal watcher, in a powerful fit of panic, severed the connection between them and the other ethereal watcher in an attempt to halt the memories. But the other ethereal watcher was still stuck in the memory recall. They continued to watch.

* * *

_Cinder awoke from the memory revelations in a cold sweat. The room was stifling hot, despite Jack Frost's cold body still lying beside her. She shot straight up and began to cry uncontrollably. She had been a helpless little girl with no faith in herself or others. She had been nothing but a coward. And worst of all, Jack had seen it all. Jack was there. He had been her only friend. He had tried to marry her just to help her escape, and she had said, _had insisted on saying_, no. Cinder was never Cinder to begin with. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had known her real name wasn't Cinder, but the reality hit her harder than Jack's ice powers that first night. Even her eyes, with one still a broken and sickly yellow, had once been a vibrant sea of green grass._

_Her name, her entire being, had all been different._

_Of all the thoughts that sped through her mind, these were the most pressing: she and Jack knew each other, she actually survived the fire, and memories were still being processed in her tooth case._

_She was still alive._

_She was still human._

_And that's why every human on earth could see her._

_And Jack was viewing them all. Twisting her head to see him, she realized that his hand still engulfed hers. Cinder tried to pull her hand away to break the memory chain so that Jack wouldn't see every little detail about her life up until this very moment. But alas, their hands were stuck together by some unnatural force. Looking at his face, she saw that his eyes were open. His features were indistinct, showing no emotion as his eyes glowed upward. The memories were still playing for him. Cinder tried ripping the case out of his hands, but to no avail. She didn't understand. His bits of memory were done, but he was continuing to watch? Did he really want to know? Cinder didn't believe Jack to be that kind of person, but what other option was she left with until he was finished and could tell her himself? Her stomach felt a pit grow larger. How was she going to face him after this? Without any solution immediately present, Cinder was at the mercy of her memory case._

* * *

The next scene that unfolded was Verity─ renamed Cinder by Pitch─ being taught to control the fire and heat that escaped from her being. Cinder didn't know why or how she had the powers, but it was clear that Pitch had tailored the fearling properly, using Cinder's burning body underneath the veneer of health as a power source. Slowly, her body became more fearling than actual flesh and muscle. Pitch used this to his advantage, sending her off on remedial tasks he could have done with a little more effort. He gave her a bucket and told her to fill it. Cinder hilariously failed several times, making the ethereal watcher laugh. Then she created a giant hole with lava forming in the bottom, and the ethereal watcher was in stunned silence.

Then the memories changed. Cinder was running and running and running without a thought in her mind. She smacked into a human girl─ the first clue that something was off about her. The human girl, Sarah, could see her. Invited her into her house. Soon, Cinder was a part of this family and happily away from Pitch. Ironically, this family was descended from the same family as Verity's: the Walkers. They were of her father's brother's line, but unlike her father they treated her kindly and affectionately. Cinder had even become close to the smallest girl: Rebecca. The ethereal watcher wondered why the other had left the memories so soon. These seemed so happy.

But Cinder wasn't coping with the fact that everyone around her was aging─ the second clue that Cinder was very, very different. At some point between burning in the house and being rescued by Pitch, Verity (or Cinder) had become immortal: all thanks to fearlings. When Rebecca, already thirteen, tried to calm her down, Cinder lit her palm and accidentally set fire to their house. They cast her out; tried to drown her as a witch. Cinder escaped and ran back to Pitch, striking some sort of deal.

* * *

The year was 1871. The ethereal watcher remembered the date: the Great Chicago Fire. The city had burned for two days straight in the middle of October. Jack Frost should have been there; it was far enough to the north that snow should have fallen. But it hadn't. The current scene was a few days prior. Inside a local tavern, a wooden bar was tended to by an old white man cleaning glasses. There was a waitress serving other tables in an old-time barmaid's outfit. The redhead's bustier wrapped around her midsection and over her shoulders, exposing her breasts in a white long sleeve blouse. Her skirt reached her knees in the front and trailed further down behind her. It was a scandalous outfit for the time period, but it helped bring in customers. Her hair was up in a bun, loosened by a long day's work. She glanced to the darker side of the bar and noticed a gentleman shrouded in the shadows. Fearless, she strutted up to the man and asked if he'd like anything.

The man appeared stunned that the woman had talked to him and motioned for her to sit down. His accent was readily Irish, which was also strange for this location. Cinder peered at her boss's position and decided that he would be busy for awhile. Sitting down, Cinder cupped her face in one hand and silently judged the man. Somehow, he already had a drink in front of him. Cinder didn't remember taking an order down from him. It had been a busy night, however, so she guessed it was plausible to be mistaken.

"How can you see me?" The man had a surprisingly young voice. He didn't sound any older than eighteen. There was something glowering just behind the man, and apparently Cinder saw it. She was momentarily in shock, but she quickly recovered and raised an eyebrow at the guy.

"You've a wolf with glowing eyes following you around," Cinder noted nonchalantly, placing a finger in the direction of the yellow eyes. At first, it had seemed like a fearling, but the creature stepped into the light and the identity was known. An abnormally large wolf stalked out of the shadows and sat down beside the table. The man pet the wolf and looked around the bar suspiciously. There weren't many other people still there, and those that were had their minds and eyes elsewhere.

"You can see him, too?" He wouldn't look at her.

Cinder smirked. "Are you one of Pitch's lackeys, too?"

At that statement, the wolf growled and took a step toward the redhead. Slightly unnerved, she scooted further into the booth and put a hand up, blocking the wolf's eyes. If there was one thing she was afraid of, a giant wolf bigger than a fully grown man was definitely on the list. The man across from her laughed and whispered to the wolf in an unrecognizable tongue. "This is Fenrir. Fenrir; um, may I ask you your name?" The man asked her.

"Yours first," Cinder eyed the situation warily.

The man clenched his fist on the table but complied anyway. "Lucas─ Lykos if you can pronounce it right."

"Cinder," the girl was still on the edge of her seat, remaining guarded. Her eyes flashed to the wolf, not trusting it in the slightest. "And I'll stick to Lucas."

"Fenrir; Cinder. Cinder; Fenrir. Good, you know each other now," the man took another sip of his drink as if the current situation was nothing new. "So, who's Pitch?"

Cinder glanced at the wolf and began to lower her hand. "My employer," she began to relax her tensed muscles. The wolf looked at her with curious eyes but made no attempt to move. He had become a statue, unmoving and emotionless.

"That old white guy?" Lucas pointed to the bartender, still washing the dishes.

"No, my real employer. I guess the people call him the Boogeyman now," Cinder eyed the man carefully. He had nearly jet black hair that shone more blue than any other color. It was an otherworldly color, much like the moon's. His eyes were a bright, wolf-like yellow. Other than the odd coloring, the man had normal features. He was handsome, sure, but normal.

Lucas narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. "So that's why you see me. I don't look─ I don't know─ like anything you particularly fear?"

Cinder took a step back in her mind. "My job is to instill fear. I... fuel the flames, so to speak."

Lucas finished his drink in a few gulps and set it down quietly. "I must say, you do intrigue me. Normally no one can look at me without running away in fear. Fenrir here told me I looked like something they feared. Everything but my real form, essentially. It makes it rather difficult to find friends. Of course, Fenrir can control his appearance. He's had much more practice than I."

"How much practice have you?" Cinder raised an eyebrow cockily. "And what's the famous name they've given you?"

"Fenrir's never told me his age. But I've around five hundred, I'd reckon. I'm commonly the Shepherd's Boy, though I detest the name. Many know the story as 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf.' What's yours?"

Cinder frowned. "I don't have one," she pursed her lips. Lucas probably meant well, however, so she brushed it off.

The conversation continued for some time. They met up several times after that; same place, same time. No one ever paid mind to them, but occasionally other patrons would see the redheaded waitress talking to herself in the corner. The fateful day of the fire, Cinder asked if Lucas would like to accompany her on a job. He accepted, saying something about Fenrir needing to eat soon anyway. They walked out of the bar after hours, arms enfolded like a couple. They walked a few blocks to a farmer's barn and Cinder bent down eye level to the padlock. Plucking a pin out of her hair, she began to pry at the lock. After taking more than several minutes, Lucas walked up to her and asked to try. He rejected the pin and steadied his hand above the lock. Three seconds of pure concentration and the lock fell to the floor. Cinder was mystified as to how he'd done it.

"I..." Lucas didn't seem to be sure of himself in the slightest, "I... lied to the lock?"

Cinder was incredulous and highly skeptical but cast the incident aside. Once within the barn, they had Fenrir lure in several men in exchange for two cows to hunt. Then Lucas kept them cornered. Cinder was merely supposed to singe smaller objects around them; enough to instill fear and move on. But Fenrir's growl spooked her and Cinder's aim was misguided. The lantern next to her target caught fire and spread throughout the barn. They all escaped in different directions, and the city was on fire within hours. Cinder didn't see Lucas or Fenrir again for a long, long time.

* * *

It was just after Easter, in the year 2012. The ethereal watcher recognized it as just after the Battle of Easter, but the geographical location was the polar opposite. The desert surrounding Las Vegas was windy, pushing large pockets of dust this way and that. The club music could be heard from miles around. The view glided over to the main strip, where several risky places caught the ethereal watcher's attention. Inside, dance music was blaring so loudly that one's ears would be rendered deaf after a few minutes. And who was to be found at the bar, drinking more than her fair share? Cinder.

Pitch had disappeared mysteriously, and Cinder was celebrating her newfound freedom by ordering every drink she could get. She danced alongside many people, boys and girls, and paid little mind to her real environment. This same cycle repeated itself for a long time.

At some point, Lucas had come back, looking a little older than before, but not much. He still had the same jet black-blue hair and yellow eyes, but now he wore modern clothing and sunglasses. He had found that with the sunglasses on, without his eyes being visible, other people saw him as human. Cinder had instantly recognized him and called him over. They caught up. They hung out. A few months later and they'd found a cheap, dilapidated apartment together. They stayed in the same bed but never interacted beyond conversation and providing ease of drunkenness by way of holding each other's hair and making "hangover" foods. The ethereal watcher grew jealous, nonetheless, and wondered what else had happened. The memories kept being played, but very little changed. These people lived in the present, making enough to pay rent and spend the rest on whatever they wanted. Hardly anything varied from this for four years.

It had become that time between Christmas and New Years where everyone was excited but bored at the same time. The pair had spent their Christmas like they did every other day: drinking and buying whatever they liked, but this time for each other rather than themselves. Cinder had given him a new guitar; he was a musician at one of the local clubs. She'd performed with him, using her rustic voice to create such a powerful acoustic sound that even the ethereal watcher recognized the tune from another time. The boy had given her a necklace which she continued to wear. The ethereal watcher did not recollect the necklace, however.

The day before New Years, Lucas had motioned for her to come out onto the balcony in the cool night air. Cinder complied readily, expecting Lucas to have some sort of idea or conversation piece. They had become each other's crutches. Fenrir and Lucas had fought four years prior and had separated. Cinder was left immortal in a world without another soul to tell. They matched perfectly in their loneliness. Cinder didn't believe Lucas to be the type to go after her (or any girl), and so she trusted him. But something was different about him tonight. Being the boy raised by a wolf for over six hundred years, he'd become more wolf than boy. In becoming such, Lucas had similar urges. Male wolves, although able to breed at anytime, became particularly sensitive when others were. For four long years, Lucas had subdued the temptation by looking toward other partners to relieve it instead of Cinder. But this time, he couldn't find anyone. And he'd seen Cinder more than anyone else that day. Lucas's eyes were filled with lust and Cinder was caught entirely off guard.

Then he'd lied to her. As the Shepherd's Boy, lying was his specialty. And in the time between the Great Chicago Fire and now, he'd learned how to force people to believe any lie he'd told them. In this instance, one Cinder nor the ethereal watcher would ever forget, Lucas told her she wanted this, too. Cinder was powerless. She fell for it, she believed him. What came next was the tangle of skin, fingers spreading themselves over curves and places never explored before. The blush on their cheeks and chests matched Cinder's hair as they tossed and turned. The bed was beyond a simple mess before long.

But in the morning, Cinder realized she'd been put under his lies. Lucas─ Lykos, the Shepherd's Boy─ had used her for his own selfish purposes. That had been their one rule, their one line not to cross. And he crossed it.

That next day, Cinder made the trip across the country to reside in the Bennett household. She tossed his necklace out the bus window and never thought of him again.

* * *

Most of these last memories went about as expected. However, when Cinder had come back from erupting the volcano and rescuing Jamie, the fearlings insider her had consumed more than ninety percent of her true bodily remains. The last of Verity resided in Cinder's core. Cinder had grabbed Jamie and they were running when the ethereal watcher saw the shadows gaining ground. As the pair were climbing out of the vast cave system, the shadows grabbed Cinder's leg and pulled her back. For once during the viewing, the ethereal watcher turned their eyes away from the disturbing scene. Skin was pried open and fearlings slithered out of the flesh. Cinder cried out and flailed, failing to stop the pain. But resisting this was proven worse. They attacked her back, forcing Cinder's eye open and aiming something above her. If she wouldn't give over the last of her physical body, then they would take something else. Cinder couldn't see anything after that. At some point, she whispered _Jack..._ before passing out. She was pulled into a portal by Jamie, who had been given the portal by Cinder just moments ago. They fell through and appeared again in Jamie's living room. A few moments later and Jack ran onto the scene. The ethereal watcher was stricken by the panic and fear in Jack's features, unknowingly being mirrored.

The rest of the memories played out without much processing. The ethereal watcher had seen enough. But they didn't notice that a similar black, slithering creature had wriggled its way into Jack's unconscious being during the last of the memory retrieval.

The seed was planted.

Pitch had won.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, some explanation should be in order. Lykos/Lucas/the Shepherd's Boy/The Boy Who Cried Wolf is an OC I created some time ago (I have a set of one-shots about his life in case you're curious, but they are not necessary) and I really want to use him in this storyline. He's painted as a bad guy, but wasn't Cinder painted the same way in the beginning of this fic? I'll just leave it at that for now. ;)**

**Hope you liked the twist(s)! Jeez, I told myself I wouldn't write anymore cliffhangers... Oh, who am I kidding? Have fun waiting until the next chapter! *Laughs evilly***


	32. Fear's First Kiss

**A/N: Hello my lovelies! Here's the aftermath of the memory retrieval! Only a few more chapters and then a small break so I can put the final pieces together for the sequel. Also, I have a super busy weekend ahead of me, so the next chapter may be a little late. I'm going to see _Jurassic World_ tonight, no matter what the critics say. I'm a lover of dinosaurs and _Jurassic Park_ was one of my favorite movies when I was little. Plus, I'm a sucker for theatrics. :P Then work, a night out for dinner, and my sister's high school graduation on Sunday!**

**Also, you'll notice that although they are out of the memory chapters, the POV isn't stabilized to one person only. This is done intentionally. ;)**

**Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 32** \- _Fear's First Kiss_

* * *

Jack's vision faded out as the colors and diamonds shifted into reality. The air around him was cozily warm. The tooth case was lying on his stomach, his right hand still holding the cover. The case's glow had dimmed, telling him that the memories were over. His other hand was continuing to firmly hold Cinder's. She was facing away from him, feet off the bed, and heaving her shoulders. How much longer had she been out of the memory retrieval?

Then he realized she was crying. Not the silent, mournful tears he'd seen on her before, but painful, heart-wrenching, lung-racking sobs that must have torn at her throat. She might have quieted down a little at Jack's stirring, but how much so he couldn't tell. Her hair was a mess─ fairly normal, actually─ and her body looked smaller than before. Jack wanted to say something, but she didn't look like she wanted to be interrupted. He didn't know what he would do anyway. Her hand in his had grown cold─ probably thanks to his own temperature─ and her nails dug into his skin. It was supposed to hurt, but Jack was concerned with other details. What was he supposed to make of those memories? Cinder was clearly still alive, or the memories would have stopped recording. Her body was hardly her own. Jack couldn't get over the grotesque truth: Cinder's surface was a trick. She was nothing but burned remains kept alive by Pitch's fearlings. And the fearlings were using her burned body as fuel for themselves, thus her powers of fire. The last exhibition of them, the volcano erupting, took almost everything human from her. Did Cinder know this? Should he tell her?

And what about that Lykos/Lucas/Shepherd's Boy guy? Jack had never heard of this spirit─ if indeed he was a spirit─ and he certainly didn't look familiar in the slightest. But clearly Cinder hadn't wanted to view those memories again. She had severed the connection unsuccessfully and left Jack to view the entirety of Cinder's three hundred years. Of course, the drinking and partying didn't surprise Jack much─ the habit still lingered. And yet, would Cinder be able to drink now, seeing as her drunken father had been her downfall? The thought intrigued Jack, but Lykos got onto his nerves way more than he would have liked to admit. Lykos had taken care of Cinder, sure, but he'd also used her. Jack was in complete agreement with Cinder's decision to leave.

More importantly, could Jack still call her Cinder? The name had been given to her by Pitch─ who had been such a fatherly figure to Cinder that Jack found it surprisingly disgusting─ and it wasn't her own. But she had never remembered being Verity. The worst part was that Jack hadn't remembered her being Verity either. That hit Jack like a punch to the stomach─ a phenomenon that had occurred plenty of times to Verity. He should have remembered her; she had apparently meant so much to him. It was a weird sensation that didn't completely feel like his. They'd been friends for seven long years, and Jack had known none of it for three hundred years. All of the feelings crawled back into his cold being as each touch of their hands, each hug, each adventure and trick washed over him anew. But what killed him inside was the grave that Verity had made for him. The spot had been his little hiding place, secret from view, where he knew she would be safe. He remembered wanting so desperately to pull her into his embrace in that little sand bar, to tuck her head under his and listen to her heartbeat as the pond lapped their feet. Each time, however, Jack didn't try to attempt it. He knew he was her only friend, and he didn't want to risk that. But the feelings only grew and Jack was unprepared to deal with them. He wanted to have fun times and all of these conflicting emotions made his feet heavier. A slow burn churned in his stomach as Jack debated what to do in the current moment.

"Verity...?" he whispered gently, as if afraid to let her hear him.

The redhead's breath hitched and her shoulders stiffened. Rubbing her nose and eyes hastily, she turned to look at the white-haired boy. Her eyes─ one still yellow─ were bloodshot and brimmed with defeat. Then it dawned on her and she cleared her throat. "You saw everything, didn't you?" Her eyes glanced at his momentarily, an uneasy question lingering there.

Jack lowered his gaze and nodded. There was no denying it. He'd seen everything. "But that doesn't change what I think─"

The girl ripped her hand from his, breaking something between them as well. "Like hell it doesn't! Admit it, I'm rotten. I'm a fluke," she stood up and stomped over to the window, angry more at herself than anything else. "Even when I was alive, I still made shitty choices. And those choices were meant to kill me. I wasn't supposed to _exist_ after that fire. The Man in the Moon didn't even want a reject like me. I was a weak─"

During her rant, Jack had gotten up from the bed and run to her side, pulling her into a long-awaited embrace. There were no words to express what he felt he couldn't say. There was an apology, there was care, there was regret, and there was a longing, all tied together and thrown into the mix of other emotions as he hugged her tighter. His arms were wrapped around the middle of her back and his hands held the opposite sides of her frail frame. Her arms were still stuck to her sides in shock. She had ceased speaking and stood there. It was much like the first time they'd hugged, when Jack had found out that she didn't remember her childhood. But this time, instead of remaining stoic, Cinder wormed her arms out of his grasp and wrapped them around his shoulders. In a last-stitch effort to reciprocate her gratitude, Cinder cried into his shoulder, her tears frozen on his sweatshirt. Jack began to rock side to side, imperceptibly at first, then into a gentle and more noticeable pace. He'd done the same for his sister when she had a bad dream, but this was different. The girl in his arms was the girl he'd always wanted to hold close, but never quite had the chance. Now, even though the past was haunting and the future was uncertain, the pieces were falling into place. Jack put his lips to the top of her head and rested them there. They were content to stay there forever. He didn't care if it had taken him this long; she was here now and he would do everything he could to keep her safe.

Jack failed to protect Verity once. He wouldn't do it again. After all, he was a Guardian, wasn't he?

As Jack's lips left the entanglement that was her orange locks, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. The last time they had been like this, his eyes and hair had been a rich brown color with warmth exuding from their details. Now, the cold blue eyes sparked a fire so hot Jack could feel his body melting. But he didn't care. He didn't care that Cinder had immeasurable scars, from her visible broken eye to her hidden, bandaged soul. She was still Verity, even if physically she was little more than an embodiment of fear. It was a tragic existence, but his eyes held no pity. They held something far, far more understanding. They had both been alone in their lives, in different ways. Jack's eyes searched hers, knowing that she had similar thoughts.

Cinder wasn't sure if what happened next was done by Cinder or by Verity, but before she could think it through, she leaned into Jack's body. Closer than before, she lifted her head more and glanced at his lips. Biting her own, she waited for his response. Jack, with his heartbeat crashing through the roof, complied and leaned into her lips lightly, only to back away in trepidation. It had occurred almost by instinct, and that fact scared him. This wasn't a good idea. Cinder noticed the motion and decided for him, brushing her lips onto his. Jack was startled but didn't pull away. His hand rose from the small of her back to the back of her head, already ensnaring his fingers in her fiery hair. Nothing could take her away from him.

Jack had never kissed before. The warm softness that pressed against his cold thin lips felt foreign and tantalizingly addictive. And yet, there was nothing entirely sexual about the arrangement. He kept his head close to hers and let her lips lead him through this new adventure. His lips pressed onto hers a little more, attempting to show her the conflicting emotions he felt. He wanted her to know that he wanted to save her. That he should have grabbed her hand and taken her out of the house that last night. But he also wanted her to know that she was not to blame. That she should have had a better life than she did but that she had done the best she could with the cards she had been dealt. Even if those three hundred years had been filled with deals and fears and drinking and fires and many other bad decisions, she had to know it wasn't her fault. Her lips pushed back faintly. With his eyes closed, Jack couldn't be sure if she was still in pain, in shock, or anything at all. He waited for her to say something more convincing without speaking at all.

Cinder's chest was heated with uneasiness. She had promised herself never to let herself get so close to anyone, not even an immortal. Lykos had broken that stipulation. She winced at the thought of him and pushed it away. She felt Jack's lips push against her and she returned the action, knowing that Jack was different. They had been a part of each other's lives when it counted. And despite everything that was wrong with her, despite the despicable life she'd led, Jack had found his way back. It was true, they were both very different. From each other and from themselves. But within that difference there was a space they inhabited, shelled away from Pitch, from the Guardians, from everything that kept them apart. Cinder's hands left Jack's shoulders and traced their way up his cold neck. She wanted─ desired─ to bring him even closer to her. Taking one of her hands off his face, she tugged at his sweatshirt strings in an effort to pull him in. Jack stiffened from the sudden movement but went along with it, bringing his body into complete contact with hers─ their clothing being the only obstacle left.

Neither of their lips had moved apart, or moved at all. It was as if both were fearful of losing the other should they separate. If they were to leave this delicate balance, the other would dissolve in front of their eyes. Cinder wasn't sure where the boundaries were, or what they consisted of, but testing them had always been her specialty. She parted her lips and pressed further still. Jack didn't move at first. He was afraid to. What was going to come from this? He'd unfortunately seen what a more experienced person could do for her and there was no way he could ever perform on that level. Or at all, come to think of it. He was a spirit, right? Those things─ down there─ shouldn't work anymore, right? And yet, he knew he was blushing crazily. Jack didn't get it. This wasn't like him. He'd never been interested in anything like this. He'd hugged Jamie and Sophie, he'd hugged Tooth (although Tooth usually initiated them), but he'd never gotten a massive influx of feelings like this before. What was he going to do?

Panicking with indecision, Jack pulled his lips away from hers regretfully. He didn't go far; his forehead was touching hers and their noses still brushed. His hair, beaded with embarrassing sweat, was still caught up in her curls. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to. The space that was between them was shared by their labored breathing. Jack had forgotten how to breathe and Cinder was left with an overwhelming sensation that she'd done something wrong. Their hands didn't move from their positions, stuck with trepidation. His arms were still hooked around her waist and in her hair, while her hands were still on his jaw line and chest. Their bodies were touching wherever they found space, leaving no room for even a slip of paper to wedge between them.

Jack blinked, looking into Cinder's eyes when they opened again. Her eyes were already on him. The yellow eye was judging but the green eye was... asking something. Without a direct answer, she began to lean in again. Jack was trying to figure out what to do when a certain detail popped into his mind.

"Uh," was Jack's first utterance: a brilliant start. Cinder halted her advance and Jack felt her eyebrow rise against his forehead. "Where's Tooth and Bunny? They said they'd stay here with us."

As if not understanding that Jack had said anything, Cinder kept close to him for a few moments before taking her hands off and shoving him away. He let go without a fight, but not willingly. Already, Jack's ice was creeping its way around his body, claiming the spots where Cinder's heated body had been. Meanwhile, Cinder had walked over to the door. Pausing before continuing, she spoke over her shoulder and avoided his gaze. "Something must've happened. Let's go," she turned around and sprinted out of the room and down the hall.

Jack immediately regretted saying anything.

He ran over to the nightstand beside the bed and picked up his staff. Glancing at the bed, he noticed that Cinder's side had been wildly disrupted. She must have been thrashing around a lot. But his side was as straight and solid as ice. Jack didn't dwell on it for much longer because Cinder was already yelling his name from down the hall. Jack turned and sprinted out the door to catch up.

Cinder was pulling at a pair of oversized door knockers. The large doors that led to the main hall with the Globe were shut and locked, by the looks of it. There was a giant padlock, deep black, that held the two doors shut. Jack shot some ice at one of the locks, close to Cinder's fingers.

"Hey! Watch where you're shooting that thing," Cinder let go of the rings and kicked at the frozen lock. It didn't budge. She kicked at it again. Nothing. Sucking in a large breath, she spun around and kicked it with all of her momentum pushing onto it. There was barely a crack. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

"You want some help there?" Jack walked up.

"I can do it myself!" Cinder snapped at him and proceeded to kick at the ball of metal and ice one, two, three more times. On the final kick, the closure snapped and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Cinder huffed at it triumphantly and smirked at Jack. "Told you so."

Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the door knockers. Before opening it, however, he paused. There was something of which he had to make sure. "Hey, Verity?"

Cinder's smirk disappeared and she deadpanned. "Cinder."

Jack was miffed. "Wh─ what?"

"I'm not Verity," she stated, "she died in that fire." The finality in the statement was baffling. How could she just ignore a part of herself? Ignore what just happened between them? "Call me Cinder."

"But that's Pitch's─" Jack started.

"Yes," Cinder interrupted Jack with exasperation leaking into her voice. "Yes it is Pitch's name for me. You think I don't know that? But it's the only name I've known for three hundred years. As far as I know, I was only Verity for seventeen, maybe eighteen years. By majority rules, I'd say Cinder wins out," her snarky comment ended on a sour note. "It's not that I don't like the name Verity, I just don't think the name applies to me anymore."

Jack let go of the doorknob and tried to reach for Cinder's hand. When she slapped him away, Jack rushed in and grabbed her arm. It wasn't forceful, but it was enough to make Cinder listen to him. "You're Verity to me. And I'm sorry," there was a pained emphasis on the apology, "I didn't remember you. Had I'd known you existed I would've looked all over for you. I─ I would have done _something_─"

"But you didn't," Cinder hissed at him, just as close as before, but with very different emotions flooding between them, "and that's for the best. You wouldn't be Jack Frost if you spent all your time looking for me. Like I said, I'm a waste of─"

Without time to think of a better plan, Jack pushed his lips onto hers in an attempt to stop her from saying those words. It shouldn't matter if he remembered her or not, Jack didn't want to hear her belittle herself again. He remembered her now, and that should blow everything else to the side. Cinder's eyes were wide, hardly expecting this turn of events. His lips were already used to hers, knowing their curves and lines near perfectly. It was like Las Vegas all over again. She couldn't let that happen. Her heartbeat escalated for a moment before shoving him away.

"You really think that was going to work twice?" Cinder spat, wiping her mouth. The hurt look on Jack's face told her she'd hit a sore spot. "God, go back to being the frozen idiot, please and thank you. He was more tolerable."

"Do you want me to freeze you to this spot and go on without you?" Jack was incredulous. She was scared and frightened─ a shell of her human self─ just a moment ago and now she was itching to fight?

"Then go on without me! I wouldn't be much help, anyway. If you hadn't noticed when watching those memories, I don't have my fire powers anymore!"

Jack hated arguing. He had to tell her. "Only because the fearlings consumed what was left of you! If you used them anymore, you'd be dead! Whatever Pitch is planning, he clearly doesn't want you dead! And I don't... either," Jack's voice faltered as he saw Cinder's face fall to pieces on the floor. She slumped downward, landing carelessly.

"You saw that far?" Cinder's words were broken and laden with uneasiness. What she had meant to say was: how did you know that? This was stuff that she didn't even know about herself. Was she really nothing more than a drone for Pitch? Piloted by fearlings that had eaten what was left of her physical body? She glanced down at the skin on her legs. It was sheer, fair, and smooth. No sign of ever being harmed in the slightest. Pressing a finger into the flesh, she wondered if it could be true. That even her skin wasn't hers. Nor her eyes, her hair, her mind...? Was any thought her own? Was Pitch making these fearlings think these things? Was there no fate left to be decided? Cinder wanted to hurl, but then again, that might be Pitch's wish after all. She'd do it if he meant her to. The cycling thoughts made her head swim.

"Of course," Jack sat beside her, "I saw everything. We've been over this," Jack went to touch her shoulder but rescinded it, not knowing if she'd swat at him again.

Cinder rolled her eyes, which were already starting to brim with tears. "Right, sorry." The empty hall was filled with silence. That's when Cinder noticed. "Hey, if North and the others are here... wouldn't we hear the yetis in the workshop or something?"

Jack perked up. He knew something felt unnatural about the place. The lock had been more than a dead giveaway. Grabbing the door's handle and pulling with all of his might, he slowly opened the door and ran inside. He hadn't gone more than a few paces before he halted completely. Shock jolted through his body. The Globe room was in disrepair. Chairs and tables were overturned, bookshelves were tossed about with scattered books, scrolls, and pages everywhere, and the Globe had a hole in one of the oceans. Not to mention the giant hole in the glass ceiling, sending frigid winds into the once cozy atmosphere.

How long had they been gone?

* * *

After hours of searching, the other Guardians, yetis, and mini fairies were nowhere to be found. They couldn't figure out why the others had left. Bunny and Tooth, along with her slew of mini fairies, had promised to keep watch over them. If they had left the room for any amount of time, they'd have been back by now. Regardless, Jack and Cinder took turns waiting in the Memory Room, as they had deemed it, while the other searched. The place was big, so perhaps the other Guardians could have been easily missed. But hours went by and there wasn't the slightest sound besides the pair's footsteps. They'd ceased talking to each other since opening the doors. All communication occurred through nods, waves, and glances. Even then, their eyes never met for long. Knowing each others' pasts didn't settle the tension between them. It just built up more. The unsaid agreement was that they would find the others and take care of Pitch first. After that... they could settle whatever it was that set them off.

Cinder left the room before Jack could come back. She hadn't seen him in over an hour and she wanted to be looking. With so much on her mind, her feet carried her subconsciously to the Globe room. Jack knew something that she didn't. But did he know that she didn't know? Cinder kept trying to piece it together but to no avail. Could memories reveal things about yourself that you didn't actually know before? Cinder had no idea where her powers came from and hardly questioned it. What Jack said make sense, but how could her memories reveal that? Peering at the Globe, Cinder noticed that the lights had dimmed considerably. Frowning, she knew it wasn't good. Perhaps the Guardians had a run in with Pitch while they were out? But that didn't make sense, either, because wouldn't Pitch have come for her? But then again, Pitch had given Jack her case. Cinder's eyes paused on a brighter light. Why would Pitch have given Jack her case without a fight? As far as Cinder knew, Pitch had ordered her to give him her memory case so that she _wouldn't_ have her memories. It had been a fair trade for Jamie─ far more than a fair trade, Cinder now believed─ and she'd done it to get Jamie back.

But getting Jamie back meant bringing him back with a fearling inside of him. Both she and Jack had seen it themselves. Jamie had acted strangely, but he obeyed to Cinder's orders that night. That didn't make sense either. Jamie, when Cinder had first arrived at the Bennett house, never listened to Cinder. He'd slammed the door on her and argued with her. But then, all of a sudden, he just listened on command? It was understandable, since she'd saved him just hours earlier, but not completely believable. It would make sense, since she was practically a fearling entity, that the fearling inside Jamie would work at Cinder's command. And she'd seen that Pitch could control Jamie as well, although the Nightmare King had made no attempt to force Jamie to do anything. That had been a simple show of dominance, but it was eerie. Both Jack and Cinder knew that. So the only thing Jack would have seen in her memory case would have been her side of things. That didn't leave a whole lot of new information at his disposal. So how did Jack know there were fearlings in─

"JACK!"

Cinder couldn't believe how much of an idiot she'd been. How could she have let him view her case? How could she have asked Jack to get her case? Why did she let Tooth and Bunny and that damned sweetheart made of ice talk her into retrieving her memories? Cinder ran out of the Globe room and dashed down the hall, making like a bandit for the Memory Room. He had to be there waiting for her. Cinder was desperately hoping with whatever was left of her real heart that Jack would be in that room, worried sick about where she'd run off to. He would probably reprimand her with one of the few serious faces Jack ever owned, but Cinder wouldn't care. As long as he was still Jack Frost, she'd kiss him again.

Well, Cinder was probably getting ahead of herself on that one.

Cinder nearly ran past the room, clasping onto the doorframe and spinning her body back into the room. Darting her head everywhere and running farther into the room, the pit in her stomach widened. Jack wasn't here. Her case lay on the floor, the flat top shattered to glittering pieces across the wood floors, teeth scattered everywhere. Even if Jack wasn't here now, he had been here recently.

"JACK!" Cinder's voice crackled, growing more fearful. She sprinted back into the Globe room. "Jack!" She was out of breath, heaving with whatever energy she had left to call out his name. "Jack, I'm in the Globe room! Jack! Jack..." Cinder's knees buckled. Was she at the North Pole all alone?

"Hello, Cinder," a different voice called from atop the Globe. Cinder spun on her heels once more and arched her neck back to see the figure standing on the Globe. To her despair, there were two. But the truly sickening reality was that both figures now had glowing yellow eyes.

Pitch had Jack practically under his thumb. And the worst part was that Jack was smiling. Not the same kind of smile he'd give when he'd thrown a snowball at someone's face, or tripped someone with his ice, or tried to cheer someone up, or when he was having fun.

This smile could kill.

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**A/N: I'M SORRY I KEEP ENDING ON CLIFFHANGERS! I don't know how else to end chapters. :(**

**Just so you know, keeping Jack from being OOC in this chapter was the hardest thing I've ever done. This is why I have a hard time doing pairings with OCs, and why I'm not labeling this fic with a pairing. Jack doesn't seem to have a single pinch of romanticism in his bones, except the innocent kind. I hope I've done well!**

**On the other hand, this story is nearing it's finale. Then I'll start posting the sequel within this thread/archive/story link/whatever it's called. I'm pretty excited about it, and I promise all will have a happy-ish ending! 'Til next time! :)**


	33. A Choice of Faults

**A/N: I really didn't want to make you guys wait for this chapter, so I wrote it up as efficiently as I could. I know precisely how I'm ending it, I just haven't written out the chapters completely. It shouldn't hinder the quality, hopefully. ****And yes, the title of the chapter is that of the story. Can you figure out why? ;)**

**Also, you know how around chapter 29 I said that this had reached 4,000 views? Well 4 chapters later and I'm already at 5,000 views! I don't know about other stories' rates, but I think this is amazing! Thank you guys so, so, so much! So many exclamation points!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 33** \- _A Choice of Faults_

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Jack couldn't believe it. The entirety of the North Pole was empty. No yetis, no elves, no fairies, nothing. There was no way of telling time here, either. Jack couldn't read any of North's twenty-four clocks and the sun was constantly rimmed at the horizon if not gone completely. On the last search exchange, when Cinder came back into the room, she muttered something about the passage of years. It was unlikely, but Jack couldn't refute. With no way to tell time, it was equally likely that they had been searching through memories for years. It felt unlikely, yet it was still a possibility. Either way, they were still giving each other the reluctant silent treatment. At least on Jack's part it was reluctant. He wanted to hope that Cinder didn't want to be doing this, that it was just the situation forcing these circumstances on them, but he couldn't be sure. She seemed to have a permanent scowl on her face, set in determination to either find the others or keep the silence between them perpetually. Maybe it was both.

Jack stood up from sitting on the bed cross-legged and grabbed his staff. On his way out the door, he glanced back at Cinder. She was looking away, toward the window, and her armor was shattered. A few tears strolled down her cheeks, catching the glint of the snow off the barren landscape outside. Jack was compelled to stand beside her and wait for her to open up to him again, to break the barrier that had come up between them. Seeing her memories had been painful for Jack, but he knew it must be killing Cinder, more so than how she was already being killed. Viewing the memories were one thing, but living through them all...? Jack couldn't imagine anything worse. She had been shielded from the worst of them─ those being the human years when Jack was still alive─ until a few hours ago. Jack somehow felt it was his fault for getting back her tooth case. If he hadn't gotten it back, Cinder wouldn't be this... this broken. Jack detested using that word, but that was how she appeared. Her arms were folded close, shoulders hunched, her knees were shaking, and her lips were quivering. Deciding against his desire to go to her side, Jack walked out of the room without saying a word.

One of the last levels of the building was down several flights of stairs. Jack absentmindedly hopped onto the railing and skated his way down to the intended floor. Tucking into a roll in midair, he landed in front of a closed door. That was interesting. The other floors had all been open. Jack tried the handle, but it didn't budge. Puzzled, he knocked and waited for a response. The murmur of grumbles and the scuttle of tiny feet greeted his ears, prickling his attention.

Jack knocked again. "Phil? Elves?" It's me, Jack." He paused, listening carefully. A few seconds later the latch was unlocked and the door creaked open. Nothing. Then Jack looked down and saw one of the elves containing a fearful expression. But upon realizing who Jack was, the elf looked at least a little hopeful. He waved the Guardian inside, the bell on his hat ringing slightly. Once inside, Jack's eyes tried to accustom to the dark. When he eyes could still barely make out the shapes of several yetis, Jack focused his attention on his staff. Lifting a surge of power from within him, Jack pushed the energy into the staff, making the ice crackle around the grooves in the wood as it glowed dimly. A few more surges and Jack was able to light the room by holding his empowered staff. He'd have to let the energy off at something if he wanted the light to go away. Perhaps he could save it for Pitch. As he thought such, however, he knew that controlling this much energy for an extended period of time would wear him down. Jack ignored that for the moment to assess the situation.

What he saw nearly sent a blast of ice through the ceiling if he hadn't recoiled and held on tighter to his staff. Many of the yetis were down here─ he certainly couldn't count how many─ and they were all injured, some more so than others. Bandages were being distributed hurriedly by the elves, who were shuffling through the masses of fur and appendages. Jack took a few slow steps forward, his eyes darting around in disbelief. The yetis' coats were stained dark in the pale blue light. One yeti mumbled something off to his right, and Jack spun around to find Phil grasping his dark stained shoulder with his legs pulled close, both also stained. Jack walked toward him, only to find that the stains were glistening─ Phil was still bleeding. Jack knelt beside the giant creature and started to glance over the wounds. There was a deep gash in the yeti's thigh and he was losing blood fast. Jack dreaded the possibility that all of the yetis were injured this badly. Jack put a hand close to the thigh and began flowing what little ice he could muster to freeze the open area. It wasn't exactly a bandage, but it would do. The elves were busy with the others and Jack didn't doubt for a moment that Phil had forced them to leave him for last. Phil was a good guy like that. Unfortunately, Jack needed him around. He was one of the few Jack could almost understand, and surely he knew what happened.

Phil used his good hand to try and swat Jack's away, but he failed miserably and grunted in pain. Jack stopped forming ice for a moment to speak; with the amount of power he was already using, multitasking became very difficult. "You need to let me do this. Wh-what happened?"

Phil made several incoherent grumbles before he started using his one good hand to sign and gesture his words. His fist came down from above and splayed out, fingers wavering. A bomb? The ceiling broke? Then Phil stooped his hand down low, palm flat, and waved it around that height. Something small? A lot of something small? Phil did it again and then pointed to the elves and shook his head. Something small, but not as small as the elves? Jack could only picture Sandy, but there was only one of him. Phil then reared his head and pedaled his hand, making _pffft_ noises. Horse? Jack's ice paused. "Nightmares?"

Phil nodded. Then he signed the many small things again. Jack thought for a moment but still couldn't place it. Phil did it again and held up a finger, as if to say there was something else in addition. Jack finished with closing the gash in the thigh and put most of his attention onto Phil's mime. There was one something small that was a little taller. And there was something much taller, but not like the others. Jack figured the tallest had to be... "Pitch? And... something small."

Phil growled and grumbled again. "Okay, many small somethings?" Phil nodded furiously before groaning with pain in his shoulder. Jack stood up and shooed Phil's good arm away so that he could look at the wound. This one was shallower, not as fatal, but it had hit vital muscles. Jack focused some more ice onto the spot but quickly became exhausted. He was already close to the end of his ropes. Blinking away the stars starting to appear and clearing his mind, Jack worked a little slower. "Alright. Pitch, someone slightly taller, and then─"

Jack's ice sputtered and ceased again.

"Jamie!" Jack's breathy realization was short. Phil nodded imperceptibly, his eyes half-lidded. He was losing too much blood, Jack feared. But two other things were pulling at his mind. The nightmares were a type of fearling... just made with sand, but it made sense if it was Pitch. And if that were the case, then Jamie would be around because of the fearling within him as well. "So the small things... they were fearlings?"

Phil shook his head gravely, a tear cascading down a clump of fur. He nodded, then frowned and shook his head. They were fearlings... but they weren't. The next realization dawned on Jack and a small surge of ice escaped from his staff due to inattention.

The small things were children. They had fearlings inside them. "Where are they now? North? Tooth? Bunny? Sandy? Pitch? Jamie? The children? How many children?" Jack's questions were rapid fire and ice began to seep out around his hand holding the staff. Phil held up his good hand and grumbled at him to slow down. Then Phil pulled out a snow globe portal from the inner recesses of his fur. Jack was confused as to how Phil managed to do this, but didn't bother to ask right now. His focus was on the infuriating ice quivering in his palm grasped around the staff and the places the others could have gone. The globe's designs articulated a dreary scene, one that was hard to decipher. It would probably be easier to read upstairs in the Globe Room. Jack took the globe and thanked Phil. "Is everyone alright down here?"

Phil nodded, grumbling and waving Jack away. _Go get the others. We're fine. _Jack heard it loud and clear.

Dashing out of the room, Jack pushed off the ground to fly up to the higher levels. But a few feet into the air and he realized he wasn't going to be able to glide on the wind. He was wielding too much power. But he couldn't just let it all out. He would end up destroying over half of the North Pole. _Why couldn't they just turn on the lights down there?_ Jack wondered in hindsight. Managing to float a few inches above the stairs, Jack began painstakingly gliding toward the floor he'd started on. Cinder had to know about this. They had to go to the others. The Guardians were in immediate danger.

It might even be too─

Jack stopped the thought from completing itself and dropped to the floor in a dead run. He swung his body into the room expecting Cinder to be waiting by the window. But when he halted, Jack saw that no one was at the window. Panicking, Jack whirled around to go and look for Cinder. That girl never liked to stay put, did she? His eyes circled around to the side of the bed before stopping completely. Even though it seemed impossible, Jack's anger fueled more power into his staff, it was nearly blinding now.

Pitch's back was to him, as if unaware that there was company. "What interesting memories, aren't they, Jack?" Pitch turned around and Jack saw Cinder's tooth case in the pale, ashy fingers that begged to crush the teeth. "Who would've ever imagined that the Man in the Moon would deny such a─"

Jack wouldn't hear any of it. Releasing all of the pent-up aggression, his staff shot out a lightning storm of ice aimed directly at the Nightmare King. The area of effect was spread throughout the room, but it had one main target. Pitch was caught off guard, dropping the case, but only for a split second. The case shattered to the floor, teeth sprawling across the wooden floors and gold and gemstones scattered the room in sparkly light. Pitch had a giant shield of nightmare sand in front of him taking the brunt of Jack's attack. The ice endured for a few seconds, particle by particle, freezing the sand. But it still held.

"Where. Is. Cinder?" Jack yelled above the thunderous strike.

"When will you learn, Frost? This trick doesn't work anymore!" Pitch cast his shield aside, the ice still trying to work through the layers. Jack tried to pull his aim back toward Pitch, but the power in his staff was suddenly low, the glow already settling. Didn't he have all the ice he needed a few moments ago? Out of the corner of his eye, Jack barely dodged a cable of thickly connected nightmare sand. The blast crashed into the opposite wall, cascading into regular sand on the floor. Jack whirled back to Pitch and aimed his staff, trying to gather the next shot. But barely anything came to his fingertips. The familiar tingle of energy was only fleeting in and out at best. He was able to gather up enough by the time Pitch had him up against a wall. Jack hadn't even been aware that he was taking steps backwards. The logs at his back, once comforting, now felt cornering and claustrophobic. Jack took his shot as soon as he felt he had the strength, but Pitch shoved the staff to the right against the wall with another extension of the black sand. Jack's wrist was pinned to the wall, staff still in his curled fingers. Jack tried to focus energy into it but there was a sudden barricade. Whatever pools of potential Jack had, they were running low and leaving fast. Fear wormed in his gut, but he couldn't let Pitch notice.

"Oh? You don't think I notice? That fear is spreading through your body in this very moment? Or that you're worried about your dear friend, Cinder?" Pitch put deadly emphasis on mention of the redhead because he knew that it would get to Jack.

"Where is she? Where are the others?" Jack managed to choke out. He looked down and was startled to find that nightmare sand had taken a hold of his neck, pulsing as if it were alive. When had that happened? Something wasn't right.

"Cinder? Cinder's fine," Pitch laughed with unknown knowledge on the tip of his tongue, "she's gotten her side of the deal. She's free. Relatively."

"What do you talking about?" Jack spat out repulsively. This hadn't been any deal; Jack had seen the memories and known there hadn't been any malicious intent on Cinder's part. She would only have done this under his control. But Cinder was useless to Pitch now, without much of a power source left in her body. Which meant that Pitch must have done away with her while Jack was busy. What an idiot he'd been.

"Why, she's wanted her memories ever since she met you! I just figured I'd give them back," Pitch smiled darkly. Then his head tilted to the side, the smile turning into a question. "Did you watch 'til the end, Jack?"

Jack's eyes darted around, trying to figure everything out. Why would Pitch have made Jack watch those memories? The only thing he'd seen had been Lykos─ which Jack was sure Pitch hadn't seen four years prior to the actual incident─ and the sacrifice Cinder had given by giving away some of the last fragments of her humanity and one eye. It was shocking and infuriating and it only made Jack want to fight more. But his reserves of power─

"Do you feel it?" Pitch leaned in, knowing his thoughts. This was becoming more dangerous by the second, and Jack was feeling more and more fear. There was such an overwhelming sense of these emotions that Jack's vision was tunneling. "The lack of power? The lack of... _belief_? The lack of _a center_?"

Jack's eyes widened in recognition. "No... no!" He struggled against the sudden amount of restraints capturing his limbs and swallowing his freedom. His staff had already fallen to the floor, but he didn't remember hearing the clack of wood onto the floor. Gaps were beginning to appear in his perception. The events around him transpired slowly in some places, quickly in others. The world began to swim, borders leaking and colors bleeding. Jack was hyperventilating but his heartbeat was scarily sluggish. "What did you do?"

"The question is, Jack: what did you do?" Pitch leaned in close and whispered something into Jack's ear, taking his right hand and shaking it as if striking a deal. Immediately, Jack's defenses shut down and his body slumped. All thoughts became a slur.

_Belief is what keeps the Guardians alive. When they aren't believed in, they lose their very life force. And if that has already happened... what do I do? Where has Cinder gone? Cinder! Cinder. Cinder... Cin_─_der? And... Jamie...? What's a... Jamie...? Pitch! Pitch, you son of a_─ _Pitch... Pitch... Pi_─

Jack's mind saw nothing more.

* * *

Cinder glared at Pitch and Jack, both standing atop the broken Globe of Belief. "Pitch, you son of a─"

"You two think so much alike, it's sickening," Pitch glanced at Jack and pointed his finger down to Cinder nonchalantly. Jack instantly understood and launched himself toward Cinder. He landed in front of her and Cinder took a step back so as not to be crushed by him. His face was inches from hers, but none of the intimacy was the same. Their eyes locked, but little meaning was held in Jack's pale yellow gaze. His eyebrows were arched in hatred and his grimace sent Cinder's stomach further downward than anything she'd ever experienced before. Jack was never the type of person to look like this, not as far as Cinder had ever seen of him. Cinder's good eye looked into both of his, one at a time, looking for any faint recognition that might be there. But there was none.

And his staff was missing.

"Looking for this?" Cinder's face left Jack's in time to see Pitch holding the staff and twirling it in his spindly fingers. He tilted his head back to her and grasped the staff tightly. "It was such a pain, really. Of course, it was easy to get once he realized keeping it was... out of the question."

Cinder swung around Jack to get closer to Pitch. But upon bringing her back to Jack, she felt her arms twist up behind her back, shooting pain into her shoulders and down her spine. She yelped and fell to her knees, trying to alleviate the pressure. Jack would have never learned to do this, let alone actually go through with the move. This must be Pitch's work, Cinder was sure. She swore under her breath, knowing she'd have to find a way out of this somehow without harming Jack. He was only being controlled. It should only be one fearling. She could figure this out. _Calm down..._

"Look, if you need me to do a job, that's fine. Just leave him out of this, damn it!" Cinder tested a tug against Jack's grip. It instantly tightened and her wrists began to chafe. Cinder grunted and cursed again.

Pitch's laugh echoed throughout the broken halls. "My sweet, sweet Cinder... I don't need you anymore," the words jabbed at Cinder's heart far harsher than she had expected. Pitch─ while not the greatest example─ had been a father to her for three hundred years. He taught her to control herself and to survive. She'd even remembered how to feel emotions again, thanks to the twisted man standing above her. Had all of this been just to use her?

"You're figuring it out," Pitch muttered, clapping menacingly. "Brilliant."

Cinder's strength was sapped from her. She knew she had always been alone, in some way or another, but this was something different. This was an isolation surrounded by betrayal. A betrayal that she had set up from the beginning, and thinking back on it now, perhaps she deserved this. She'd been the one to listen at the drop of a hat and follow Pitch's orders without question. Under fearling control or not, Cinder blamed herself. She felt like she could have done something─ anything─ and things would have turned out so differently. But she had chosen not to. She'd chosen wrong. That was where her fault lay. The faulty choice led to her guilt in the events that had transpired, and she alone was to blame. She yearned to cry out and shout and kick and scream and fight, but she also desired to lie down and let her tears stain the wooden floors, to wither away to dust like she should have so long ago, and to become nothing more than a fleeting memory, or better yet, nothing in the minds of others at all. The indecision tore at her and tears blinded her further.

"On the other hand," Pitch's voice rattled in Cinder's empty skull, "Jack, here, is perfect. I've _seen_ the power he can wield! And with your amazing work with the volcano, I can control it! Fear has risen, thanks to you! But now you're so close to death, my dear! I've _saved _you. Another outburst and you would have died!"

But Cinder still had one question left. Perhaps she could still finish this to make up for some small piece of failure. "Why don't I just use what have left of my body?" Cinder's voice was overlaid with a growl so animalistic it scared her.

Pitch nodded, taking in the question and choosing his answer carefully. Meanwhile, Jack yanked her arms further above where it was possible to bend them, forcing Cinder to stand. His expression remained stoic and unreadable. Cinder tried her best to ignore him, but the chilling sensation rippling off his skin invaded even the thick red sweater Bunny had retrieved for her.

"Even if you could figure that out, it wouldn't do much good. I've taken out a majority of the fearlings that had consumed your bodily heat. They were becoming too hard to control and you weren't doing as you were told. Whatever you have left, plus some younger fearlings I've never bothered with, have no heat to make use of. Rather, the last of your heat has been seeping out since you rescued the little brat. But it's too late for that one, I'm afraid," Pitch added lastly, knowing it would push Cinder further. It was like he _wanted _her to try and fight. But Cinder didn't know if she could. It was an answer she hadn't expected, and she felt worse than before. Jamie was under Pitch's control as well, and was probably leading an army against the─ the real answer popped into Cinder's head and she felt like an idiot not for the first time that day. But she'd promised to keep Jamie and Sophie safe. The thought of Sophie took Cinder's breath from her. The little blond girl popped into her mind and Cinder knew she was losing it. Enough tears had shed from her eyes and hyperventilating sobs were all that she could muster. The Guardians were nowhere to be seen─ dead, for all she knew─ and she'd given Pitch everything he wanted to take over what he thought belonged to him. Abruptly, Jack's knee met her back and she was tossed to the ground. Arms finally free, she rubbed them sorely and glared back at Jack. His face was set, blank but determined, on her.

"Well, this is boring," Pitch's voice was suddenly much closer. Cinder wasn't aware that he had jumped through the shadows. Normally, she could hear when he was doing that. So it was true, her abilities were lessening. They hadn't left all at once, just most at once. The younger fearlings couldn't do much and she was left with little more than a veneer of skin. "Jack? Would you do the honors?"

Cinder's eyes widened as Jack's hands were suddenly gripping the front of her shirt and hoisting her into the air. Her feet were dangling above the ground─ now an eerily familiar event─ and memories flooded her system. It was a terrible feeling. And one she could do without. In a swell of strength, Cinder used Jack's arms to stabilize her body as she swung her legs up and kicked Jack's chest. The result sent Jack reeling backward while Cinder's spine cracked from hitting the floor, driving all breath from her lungs. Rolling around and propping her torso on her elbows, Cinder knew she couldn't keep her back to Jack again. He'd be back on his feet faster. A cold embrace ensnared her ankles and Cinder knew she'd be in a more complicated position. Jack swung her by her feet and let go, throwing her body into a nearby pillar. Something snapped when she hit and blood began to pour into her mouth. Cinder shouldn't have been able to move, but there was a thought in the back of her mind that wouldn't let her be beaten by that frozen idiot. Whether or not he was aware of these events, surely he would gloat over them if he had the chance. Being the competitive, stubborn girl she was: this wasn't going to be the end. She sat up painstakingly just in time to get hit by another kick from Jack's bare foot. Her nose was bleeding now: she saw the smear across the middle of his foot, streaming through the ridges. Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed his ankle and twisted it as best she could to the left. Jack grunted as he was thrown off balance. It was a feeble attempt, but it was enough to force Cinder to her feet and wheel around to face him.

But as Jack stood and looked at her, Cinder's breath hitched. His eyes sparked blue, even if only for a moment, and Pitch's sneer worsened. That gave Cinder hope. She prayed to whatever was out there that the Easter Bunny could sense it. That it might give him strength. After all, he and Cinder had a promise to keep.

Cinder ran right up to him, but at the last second, stopped her attack and dodged his hands, covered in ice and aimed for her throat. She ducked and shoved all of her weight into his core, pushing him away. Jack didn't go very far, however, and grabbed her shoulders. Cinder tried to get a grasp around his arms, but it was nearly impossible with his sweatshirt being so loose. And this boy's arms were too damn skinny. They pushed back and forth for a moment before Cinder started losing ground. Looking down for a split second, she noticed that the floor was covered in ice─ home field advantage for the winter Guardian. Cinder pushed against him to the best of her abilities, despite it being a lost cause. Then an idea struck. Cinder let go of his arms and stopped pushing. Jack wasn't expecting this and tumbled forward. Cinder ducked and let Jack's body sail over hers and land on his backside. If they were play fighting, Cinder would have laughed. But those were days they could never have again.

Pushing the thought aside, Cinder twisted around on her knees and pinned Jack to the ground. She couldn't keep him still for long, but she had to try something. Fearlings could be taken out. Hers had been. The dim memory came back to her and she knew it was her only shot. With quivering lips, Cinder forced her hand directly over his heart and called what strength she had left. For a while, nothing happened. Not even Jack stirred. But Pitch wasn't doing anything to stop them either.

That should have been a warning.

Cinder tried again, harder, pulling from the deepest pools of her soul─ if she even had one─ any power she could muster. A flicker of heat was hiding behind the waterfall and she had to keep it lit for either one of them to survive. She knew there was the chance that she wouldn't survive this. But she was a pawn in a stupid game of choices and he was a Guardian, protector of the world's faith and belief. His life would always mean more than hers.

This was the one choice she was sure was hers and hers alone.

Her arm twitched and a faint spark was felt. Cinder bit her bottom lip hard enough to tear the skin as she tried to add the kindling. Then, calling on the fearlings she knew were inside, she tried to ask a favor. If they could listen to Pitch, they might listen to her. They were basically the same person, Cinder realized bitterly. But something dark entered her perceptions and she smirked. It was like a wrestling match with her conscience, and Jack was beginning to squirm underneath her. His eyes were becoming a brighter yellow─ almost the yellow that hers had been. Pitch's control over him was getting stronger. Cinder had to fight against it. She had to withdraw his fearling. Something latched underneath her palm, and she began to slowly raise it. Black clouds and swirls danced sporadically as she pulled further. Jack's eyes dimmed again and groans turned into low-key screams. The farther she was, the harder it became to drag the fearling out. She'd have to absorb it quickly and allow it to take the last piece of her. Surely Pitch wanted that to happen. Maybe he knew Jack wouldn't be able to fight after this. But there was _some_ chance that he could, and Cinder couldn't see another way out. "Come on, Jack. Don't fight it. You'll lose an eye just like I did," Cinder smirked sadly.

All of a sudden, Pitch's foot was close to Jack's head. Cinder paused and looked up, beads of sweat bearing down on her forehead. "Are you sure you want to do that? You'll kill both of you, you know."

"You don't know that," Cinder turned back to Jack only to see the raw agony searing through his features. _Only a few more seconds, Jack. I promise._ Jack's eyes opened slightly, revealing a bluer tint than before. Cinder took this to signify that it was working. But she didn't know that Pitch was letting up on the control enough to let him see that Cinder was mad─ and to assume that _she_ was under Pitch's control instead. And best yet, it was working. Jack squirmed even more, freeing one hand and grasping Cinder's wrist with such clout that Cinder couldn't move. The fearling, with its beady white eyes and black snake-like body, wriggled around in between Jack's chest and Cinder's palm. Cinder's body was heating up even more and her muscles were weakening.

"Would you rather have the possibility of killing him... or saving them?" Cinder heard something glass and spherical drop onto the floor behind her and she whipped her head around to see what Pitch had done. A portal opened up, sending wild winds and extraordinary gravitational pulls throughout the hall. In the portal, a dark alleyway was conveyed, lit by a few streetlights at the backside of a rundown garage. Bathed in the light were the Guardians, all of which appeared sickly and embarrassingly human. Cinder didn't see Bunny anywhere. Panic settled in her lungs as she heaved and her heartbeat quickened close to a flatline. Then she saw it: the thousands of kids pouring in closer.

Each and every one of them had the same yellow eyes.

Cinder nearly tore the connection between the fearling and Jack just then. Glaring at Pitch, Cinder bared her teeth. "You...! You had no right to mess with those kids!"

"Says who?" Pitch's breath curled into her nostrils, choking her with their alarmingly smoky smell. It reminded her of her burnt house and the fire inside her weakened. Grimacing, she took her other hand and held onto Jack's hand, which was still tightly holding her other one. The effort exuded to keep this balance was excruciating.

Cinder knew the decision had to be made and made quickly. The portal was smaller, weaker than the other portals. No doubt this was in part due to the thousands of kids turning their beliefs against the Guardians as they were speaking. Does she force herself to save Jack and spell her own demise on the chance that he might not make it? Or does she try to help the Guardians with her contact with the fearlings and possibly save four out of five? The human years with Jack had been the best and worst times of her pathetic life, and she wanted to properly apologize to Jack. She thought that curing him of the fearlings would be apology enough, but now she wasn't sure. Cinder was still a burden to him. As long as she was alive and present, even in his memories, he would focus on her. And that was never the Jack she knew. He focused on everyone and made sure that they were all taken care of. He made sure everyone had smiles on their faces. If he tried to keep even the smallest of smiles on her face, surely he would spend an eternity watching his center fall to pieces. In this way, she would be the least of his worries and he could continue his Guardianship. Jack valued it more than many things, and she had to be below it if they were all ranked in such a fashion. He was no longer _her_ Jack, just like she was no longer _his _Verity. But to save one immortal or to save them all, plus the children of the world? Cinder was never one for children, but she knew what was at stake. Pitch would stop at nothing until the belief was his and the world was in chaos. That's what fear was: innate and chaotic. There was also a chance that she would die either way. Was she willing to take that chance?

Swallowing dryly, Cinder prayed that she made the right one. Thrusting her palm back into Jack's chest with finality, the fearling was put back into place. Cinder jumped up and tossed her body into the portal as it closed behind her.

* * *

**A/N: I don't believe this is a cliffhanger... but I might be wrong. I really, really tried to have a decision made by a character at the end of a chapter instead of dangling the possibilities in front of you, mostly for rhetorical reasons. Also, the end of the story will be chapter 35, but an epilogue for the first book/prologue for the second story will link the two stories in chapter 36.**

**As a side note: if it seems like Pitch knows what Cinder and Jack are thinking and reading their minds and such, you'd be correct in the assumption. Since he can control the fearlings in them, he can also get a glimpse at their thoughts. In particular Cinder's since she is mostly fearling herself. Hope this clears things up!**

**Previously speaking of rhetoric, I've come up with the name for the second book and possibly the third, if all comes out right. It's quite the clever naming scheme. :P**

* * *

_**A Choice of Faults**_

_**A Change of Fates**_

_**A Carnage of Fools**_

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**What do you think? :)**


	34. When Senses Fail

**A/N: Just so that you guys can get on to the story (I know how impatient you guys have been), I'll be answering some things I've noticed in an extended author's note at the end of this chapter. There's a fair amount and I don't want to take up a thousand words at the beginning (it's not really that many, but you'll see what I mean). **

**There are also some questions I have for you lovelies! Besides, it's the second-to-last chapter and there's so much to cover!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 34** \- _When Senses Fail_

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As soon as Cinder's body went through the portal, she began falling. The amount of stress she'd put on her attempt to free Jack of his fearling had taken more out of her than she'd realized. Who knew? Maybe she would die on her way to the Guardians and the portal would disintegrate the last of her remains into the unknown dimensions of the universe. The tumbling air, condensing and expanding around her, pounded against her limbs and head and caused a massive headache. Cinder held her head as her one good eye barely made out the colors that began to form into solid shapes around her. Landing on the ground, she heard scuttling noises around her, paired with unearthly groans and scrapes of shoes and feet on concrete. Her head was still swimming, making the mounds of bodies that surrounded her appear as a living, breathing ocean bent on swallowing her whole. The immediate suffocation bombarded Cinder with an overwhelming inadequacy in her ability to stand back up. How was she to help the Guardians when she couldn't help herself?

She thought she heard something above the sea of─ Cinder gasped. These were all kids. She knew that they would be, but being in the middle of it was something entirely different. Children, ranging from three to ten maybe twelve years old, were all around her. A few took notice of her, but none bothered to help or hinder her. She was merely a disturbance, yet again. Cinder pushed her body up into a sitting position, her eyes lazily fixing themselves. Her bad eye now seemed to see nothing at all and her good eye was marginally better. Her head must have hit the pavement. Cinder blinked a few times and saw several collective faces of horror and relief all mixed into their features.

"Cinder!" The Tooth Fairy called out, frightened and confused. Cinder looked closer and saw that her wings had stopped moving. She was standing on her small feet, barely able to keep her balance. She had a hand out, but Cinder couldn't reach it. North was leaning on one cutlass and the second one was held up warily. His defense was weak and he could hardly keep the metal from falling to the ground; it was getting too heavy. Sandy's sand whips were losing their magic by the second, golden sand glittering onto the concrete hopelessly. Bunny was still his full size─ for a moment Cinder believed he'd felt her sense of hope a few minutes ago─ but he only had one boomerang. The other was nowhere to be seen. Cinder tried to call out, but a boot stepped onto her hand, crushing her fingers and causing her attention to phase to the perpetrator.

Jamie stood above her, glaring at her curiously. His eyes were a bright, haunting yellow that held no recognition of the defeated redhead. His winter boots grinded her bones into the ground and Cinder yelped.

"Jamie!" Cinder whined, feeling her joints crack and crumble. "Jamie, it's me. It's Cinder! You're─ you're hurting me!" But Jamie's eyes didn't change. When the pain didn't stop, Cinder shoved her shoulder into Jamie, effectively knocking him back. Scrambling to stand up, Cinder's feet desperately carried her to the Guardians. She pushed through the kids, having a moment of sonder creep into her consciousness. Each of these kids had a family, some with siblings, friends, crushes, and lives that may never have coincided before this. Could they see each other as they were now? Would their families worry? How did they all succumb to Pitch's tactics, individually? Some must have been taken and reduced to a scared pile of flesh and others might have been sleeping peacefully before Pitch riddled their minds with terrors unimaginable. Cinder, having a small moment of clarity, mumbled sorry as she pushed onward. There must be hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids here. But she didn't see a particular little blond girl, and for that, she was momentarily relieved. Cinder, finally breaking from the mass of bodies, remembered the time where the Guardians had temporarily not been at the North Pole before her questioning. They said there had been exceeding amounts of nightmares in one area. Cinder didn't piece it together until now: Pitch was distracting them with the nightmares while the fearlings were behind the scenes doing all of the dirty work. And Cinder had set them loose in the first place. That fact would never, ever leave her consciousness no matter how much she wanted to be rid of its sour taste.

The exertion of panic that had flooded her sickly veins caused her body to fail and she collapsed again in front of Bunny. The giant rabbit holstered his boomerang and scooped her up carefully. "You aw'right, mate?" His expression was perturbed.

Before Cinder could answer, Tooth knelt beside her. "Sweetie? Are you okay? Did you get through the memories fine? Where's Jack?" The rapid questions rattled her mind and she could barely manage several stuttering sounds before Bunny hushed her.

"We 'ave a bit of a biggah problem, Tooth!" Turning back to Cinder, he helped her stand, holding a paw around her shoulders. Cinder wanted to swat his arm away and stand on her own, but she was afraid that she would truly show how weak she was. The world now felt too far below her, her head having not been at her true height in some time. "We can't outrun these brumbies much longer!" swore Bunny.

"You're not fighting them?" Cinder managed to ask, although her mind was still foggy.

"They don't believe in us anymore. Even if we did have some of our powers back, there's no way we would harm the children!" Tooth explained, backing up further against the garage behind her as the kids moved closer. The other two Guardians stepped in front of them protectively. North and Sandy both glanced back at Cinder, weary worry glistening in their eyes. Cinder closed her own, wishing she'd had a better plan, or even half of her strength back. Today was not one of her smarter days.

When she opened her eyes, however, Cinder saw a figure break from the herd of mummified children and stand straight. Jamie's eyes didn't leave Cinder's, and she could feel the burning hatred that wasn't his but radiated from his teenage body. The other Guardians began to flicker between confusion and trepidation, looking from the Last Light to Cinder and back again. Despite not having a plan when she fell through the portal, Cinder walked past the Guardians and stood in front of the boy she'd been living with merely days ago. He was a few inches shorter than Cinder, but she didn't doubt that he'd be having his growth spurt soon. If he lived that long.

Cinder pushed the thought aside and cleared her throat. "Jamie, you don't want to do this. You cherish these guys, don't you? You've had your adventures with them, right? You don't want to harm them. Pitch just─"

"They are weak liars who veil us from the truths of the world," Jamie's voice was different, lower, and grainier. Cinder nearly took a step back because it was so unexpected.

"What are you talking about, Jamie? They're your friends! They want you all to have happy childhoods to remember! That's the Tooth Fairy's job; to keep your happy memories together for when you need them. Santa gives you gifts and merriment and wonder each year that keeps you feeling alive and joyful. And the Easter Bunny? He keeps your hopes alive so that you can dream greater things. And speaking of dreams, all those amazing fantastical feats you feel in your sleep well beyond childhood? That's Sandy. He's always there. They all are. They've never lied to you, any of you. Especially not Jack Frost. You remember Jack Frost, don't you?"

Jamie stared at Cinder and for a lengthy moment it seemed like he could really hear what she was saying. Cinder smiled, feeling relief wash over her prematurely. His features had softened and she leaned in to hug the poor boy. That was when he pushed her away, down onto the ground. She felt another bone snap and knew somewhere in the back of her mind that her body was falling apart and disintegrating by the second. Jamie sneered at her before he spoke. "Jack Frost is nothing but a nightmare inside a cold corpse. He's a killer and a monster."

Cinder's heart fell out of place and she wanted to heave. Those words; Jamie would never, ever even _think_ of saying words like that. Her stomach swirled, and for a second she wondered if it was really her stomach or the fearlings swimming around anxiously. Jamie was beyond reach and she didn't know what to say to make him come back. The kids behind him were shifting around in anticipation, waiting on the older boy's command. The dreaded realization dawned on her: Pitch had succeeded in taking over the newest and arguably the strongest Guardian as well as the strongest believer and Last Light. What was there to stop him now? The Guardians were weak and she was nothing but a prop on this stage.

Jamie saw the weakness in Cinder's features and grinned evilly. "Pitch knows the truth. He's told us so. We have to uproot the Guardians ourselves if we want to have the knowledge, the _truth_, we desire." These sentences didn't sound remotely close to the Jamie that Cinder knew. This was a fearling talking. Cinder debated trying to wrestle the fearling out of Jamie instead. If he was taken down, surely the other kids would disperse at the least or the fearlings would lose control of their hosts at best. Cinder was about to push herself back up when an idea struck her. She still had fearlings in her. And Jamie had listened to her command before, that night in the kitchen when he had attacked Jack. If it was because of the dark connection... perhaps this could work.

Cinder placed a hand on her knee, already appearing old and frail, and stood cautiously with her eyes closed. She summoned the last of her fortitude and raised the burning feeling in her lungs through her fingers. It took some time, during which Jamie raised an eyebrow at the suddenly still figure, but soon Cinder felt what little reserves she had gather at her fingertips. At the last possible moment, she knew her window was narrowing and forced her hands onto Jamie's chest. They latched on and the heat scorched Jamie's shirt. That got everyone's attention. Cinder opened her eyes and Jamie hissed: her good eye became the same yellow as her broken eye, but was not broken in itself. The dancing pigments entranced Jamie and all of the kids looked toward Cinder.

With what breath she could manage, she gave the order: "_You are going to relinquish control until I've returned._" She was speaking directly to every fearling within these children. The massive exertion for this sort of telepathic and suggestible communication caused Cinder's arms to shake and her lips to quiver with beads of sweat pouring from her forehead. The heat was beginning to leave her and she knew that she didn't have much longer. This wouldn't rid the children of the fearlings, but at least now they would obey her. She had forced herself to become an alpha of sorts, replacing Jamie. This would be a choice that used her faults against Pitch, and the bastard deserved it. Besides, the order given would suppress them until she "returned." Cinder knew that part would never come to fruition. The bodily heat she'd gotten used to having had begun to seep out of her as well and her body failed altogether. Her hands fell from Jamie's chest, dragging a small fearling with them. It flew around the redhead momentarily before trying to burrow itself into her body as a new host. But Cinder refused, and with the last of her consciousness, forced the fearling to take a sacrifice and dissipate like they had done before─ and her last good eye was gone like the other. The sharp pain emanated from the front of her skull and the last thing they heard of her was a terrifying scream. The fearling took its prize and faded away.

Bunny and the others looked on in true horror. What they had witnessed couldn't be explained, and no one wanted to attempt to do so. Tooth turned to the kids and gasped, pointing out toward the furthest end of the mass. The kids' eyes were fading back to their born colors and they began to walk away, some confused and others dazed. Slowly, the wave of colors crashed through the sea and all trace of malicious intent disappeared from their features. Jamie sunk to the ground in front of Cinder, his mouth agape with dread and utmost horror. His and Sophie's sitter lay at his side, eyes wide open but seeing nothing. Her skin began to crack, revealing blackened char in places, but no blood. Her hair, once a vibrant orange, had dulled to a brown and looked to be strangling her in its wild arrangement. Jamie's mouth quivered and little sounds came out that weren't entirely human. What had he done? He'd been aware of everything and nothing all at once and he couldn't understand why he'd have done anything to this girl that had rescued him and loved Sophie. A hand rested softly on his shoulder and he whipped his head around to see the Tooth Fairy looking at him sadly.

She tried to say something─ anything─ that would make the boy feel better about the situation, but no words came out. Instead, she sighed and pulled Jamie into a hug. "We should get you home, Jamie. Your family must be worried." She took his hand and helped him stand, her wings beginning to flutter again. With the Last Light, even this far into teenage years, belief was being restored slowly to the Guardians.

Just then the sounds of sirens happened upon the alleyway. Several police vehicles and ambulances cut off the alley from the road and whatever kids were left were taken into their arms. Jamie turned, realizing these adults wouldn't see the Guardians. They would see that he was kneeling next to a body and that'd be the end of it.

"Go, get out of here!" Jamie whispered to the Guardians, who had all gathered around Cinder. She'd saved them, even if it was temporarily as far as they knew.

"We can at least take her with us," Bunny insisted, already beginning to pick up the mangled body.

"They can't see you! They'll think she's resisting and shoot her! Even if she might be still alive, I can't let you! She'll be safer here. They'll get her help, they'll..." Jamie's voice choked with the overwhelming sensation to wail. "Just go..."

"Jamie..." North began to kneel down and console the boy, but Jamie pushed him away.

"GO!" He yelled as the police behind him insisted he put his hands above his head where they could be seen. Jamie raised his hands slowly, tears in his eyes. "Go..."

The Guardians looked at the boy in disbelief. They slowly walked off, out of the light, when North mentioned that he didn't have the strength to open up a portal. Bunny stayed where he was in spite of Jamie's instructions. He watched as the EMTs ran up to Cinder and put fingers to her neck. He began to turn away when he heard them say that they caught a pulse. She needed medical attention and was to be brought to the local hospital. Bunny's ears lit up and a plan began to form in his mind. Before turning to finally leave, he gave Jamie a curt nod before bounding over to the others. He opened up a rabbit hole and told everyone to follow him. Jamie would have to figure his own way home; the others had to find out why Jack hadn't come with Cinder through the portal.

Bunny had a funny feeling that Cinder would be able to tell him soon.

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When the Guardians made it to the Warren, Bunny had the giant eggs cater to their wounds and sores while he took no rest for himself. The Warren was a safer place at the moment, considering the North Pole was bound to be in disrepair after the brief battle Pitch had rained upon them. He went down to his bunking area─ the place where he slept─ and hopped over to an intricately carved and painted chest. Opening the latch, Bunny took out another, older boomerang to replace the one a kid had caught and snapped in half. The recent memory was bitter as he holstered this second one and made his way back to the others. It was then that he told them that he was going back to retrieve Jack and Cinder.

"We don't even know where Jack is!" Tooth reminded him. "And Cinder's─" she couldn't bring herself to say it at first, "─ Cinder's gone, Bunny."

"No, she's not," Bunny pointed out to her. North and Sandy stared at him in puzzlement. "I saw the EMTs put her on a cart and take her to the hospital. She's alive. I can talk to her and find out what happened, and then I'll go and find Frosty. Simple as that!"

Sandy mimed with pitiful sand, saying that they were all weak and that it wasn't a good idea, but Bunny wouldn't listen. He glanced away from the golden Guardian and eyed North in challenge. If the big guy had any qualms, he'd surely state them now.

"You know is not good idea, Bunny," North started with a sigh, "but you seem to have better chance. If you are not back in an hour, Christmas will forever be more important than Easter!" A devilish smile played at North's lips.

Bunny found himself smirking at the challenge. "You'll bet yer Nelly! I'll be back faster than you can spell 'carrot'!" Bunny's foot was already tapping the ground, eager to be leaving. He grinned at each Guardian in turn to reassure them and plunged into the rabbit hole. When the hole disappeared, an aster quickly grew in its place.

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Pale blue moonlight showered the intensive care unit in ethereal light. The colors danced like water on a girl's burned body and it stirred restlessly. A voice, soft and gentle, caressed her features and filled her lungs with air. There was a steady beeping sound somewhere off to the left. That was the first thing Cinder could sense. She yawned and tried to stretch, but pulled back when she realized her limbs were crackling more than normal. Her muscles felt more than sore─ it honestly seemed like they were missing. Cinder opened her eyes to look at the damage. Or she thought she had opened her eyes. The beeping noise began to escalate as she tried to open her eyes more, tried to glean any particles of light from her surroundings. Her arm moved up her other arm, sensing IV needles, to her face, crawling as to not snap in two, and she padded at her cheeks, nose, and finally─

Her eyes _were_ open.

The reality made Cinder want to sink into the bed or whatever she was on until she disappeared into the fluffy depths. The blankets above her were suddenly smothering her and the beeping noises to her left were elevating faster though her faint heartbeat felt nonexistent. Cinder made some sickly noise halfway between a cry and a groan and a yell, the desperation ripping apart what was left of her throat. She was still alive. How the hell was she still alive? She'd made the fearlings take what was left of her strength, hadn't she? Was there some resistance in not wanting to die that caused her to live? Maybe that damned Man in the Moon that she'd heard so much about had finally decided to step in and do something. She wanted to hit herself, but her arms were laden with anguish. At least Jamie would be alright. And the Guardians would have enough vigor to go after Jack. And Bunny would keep his promise. That was all she cared about anymore.

"Whhhyyyyyyyy...?" Cinder's rough voice grieved. If that Moon guy did do something, she swore she'd go after him personally for changing her plans. Especially if he'd allowed her to live at the price of being blind.

"Sheila?" She heard a noise farther in front of her but it didn't seem to be in the same room. Heavy footsteps padded on tile floors and Cinder knew exactly who it was, even without her sight.

"Bunny?" Cinder croaked out before attempting to clear her throat. But it was dry and she only ended up coughing from deep in her chest, or whatever was left of it. "What are you doing here? Did you find Jack?"

"Crikey," the giant rabbit mumbled, and Cinder figured he was glancing over her condition. She wondered if her body was disgusting charred remains or something else equally unearthly. She also wished she could roll her eyes at him. "You didn' give us much ta go on, mate. What happened after the memories?"

Cinder pushed her head further into the pillow behind her to try to think. Her memories hadn't been disrupted, but the recent events had been so rushed that it was difficult to piece them together. "We went looking for you guys. We found the Globe Room in ruins," Cinder could still imagine the turmoil she'd felt in that giant hall, but she could no longer picture what it looked like, and that frightened her. "And then Jack didn't come back. I found him with Pitch. He had sneaked a fearling into the tooth case before giving it back to us. The fearling lodged itself into Jack when he was alone in viewing the memories... because I backed out early," Cinder glazed over the explanation, hoping Bunny wouldn't pry. When he didn't, she continued, "and it consumed him. Much like they have me. And now his belief is gone and his center isn't doing much better. Anyway, Jack and I fought. I tried to take the fearling out of him─"

"But─ but that's a procedure no one's ever completed!" Bunny interrupted. "The only people that know how to do it are─"

"What do you think I did to Jamie?!" Cinder's outburst cost dearly to her physical health. She sputtered into another coughing fit and groaned. Cinder knew exactly which kind of people could do such a trick, but they weren't exactly people. Fearling hosts, if controlled well, could alleviate another of the same burden. Bunny didn't need to remind her. She tried to stare at him, but she already knew she wouldn't be facing him directly. Having only hearing at her disposal for the moment, she could only guess as to Bunny's exact position in the room.

Bunny didn't answer for a second. Perhaps he was shaking his head; Cinder thought she heard the ruffle of fur. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to know what happened to Jack."

"Wherever Pitch went, Jack went with him. That's all I can tell you." Cinder believed after a few minutes of silence that he had left, but she couldn't be sure. There was a pressure in the air that told her she still wasn't alone. Perhaps Pitch had come back to finish the job? Without sight, Cinder was worse than dead.

"Why'd you back out?" Bunny's voice was small. "Ah'm not supposed to ask. No one is. But why'd Jack get stuck seeing _your_ memories?"

Cinder forced herself to breathe deeply despite the pain causing her lungs to constrict. If there was anyone she could trust anymore, it would be Bunny. "We knew each other, Jack and I. I grew up in his village, his age, and he was my only friend." Cinder stopped, wondering if she should reveal the details. Whatever happened between her and Jack should stay between them. She would die with that secret to keep him alive as a Guardian. "But he died. I was sad. Then I died in a fire. Except I didn't really die. Pitch found me because I saw him before I was supposed to die. He infected me with a fearling and they multiplied inside me. What you see now isn't real. I'm just a broken tool. Everything I've done was his plan. Except for a few times, when I'd become uncontrollable," Cinder smiled forlornly, "and these last few hours were exactly that: uncontrollable. But I've done what I could. Now you guys need to go find Jack and rescue him. Pitch should be weakened now. Jack can't be under his spell for much longer. Then you can all finish the job. Go. Now."

"But─"

"NOW!" Cinder yelled, thrashing her arms around hoping to smack him into leaving. This wasn't like her but she needed to make Bunny leave before he saw her die. As far as she was concerned, her life was coming to an imminent close. Her fingers brushed the fur here and there and she heard the ground shift by the side of her bed and a sudden whoosh of air. Then she heard a nurse or doctor or janitor or whoever outside of her room burst into yelling, calling security or whatnot. Cinder wasn't actively trying to listen to them.

And that was because a thought had popped into her head. She knew exactly where Pitch had taken Jack. It made so much sense to her. Jack had taken her place as Pitch's new recruit. And where else would he have taken the new recruit? Cinder regretted telling Bunny to leave, but now she had a reason to get out of this bed. They wouldn't know where this place was, anyway. But she could send them in the right direction. But what would they do once they got there? The place was way too small for all of them and none of them could fight Pitch one-on-one. Jack probably could, but he clearly was not an option. Pitch must have known Cinder would figure it out from reading her─ or the fearlings'─ thoughts. So if Pitch couldn't be fought... could he be tricked? And for how long? Cinder disregarded the idea and rammed her head back against the pillow. The rabbit hole was still open and an idea slowly began to form as she felt and heard the winds coming from deep in the tunnel. There was a land Pitch had told her about after the bucket incident (he had told her that she'd be ready to take on jobs and opponents soon enough)─ a land which had kept him sealed. He told her about it─ that it could not be reached except through a portal and a special name. He'd told her it in the event that she had no other way to defeat someone. Cinder had never used it, never even attempted it, but she never forgot it either. And perhaps this was the time to use it. Of course, using that sort of power would definitely kill her this time around. But maybe... she just needed to get her hands on some snow globes.

Cinder rolled to the right, almost falling off the bed until she remembered the IVs still in her veins. Pawing at her left arm, she found the needle and yanked it out. Several other cables were ripped off and the beeping sounds changed into a monotonous and obnoxious tone. The sticky substance meant to keep the needle steady ripped off some skin─ probably one of the few patches of skin she had left─ and sent a thousand nerves into shock. The tip of the needle had pricked her vein and she began to bleed down her arm but she paid no attention to it. Whatever condition she was in would have to be enough. Now that the leash was off, Cinder rolled her body to the side, realizing too late that the edge of the bed was much closer and she hit the ground with a thud and several more cracks. Not having enough strength to stand, she crawled her way around the room, listening for the rabbit hole. He must have just hopped through after she'd made her plan because Cinder could sense the hole closing up. Using one last push, she threw her body headlong into the tunnel and cascaded downward as the yells of security officers sounded off farther and farther away by the second.

_Just hang on a little longer, Jack._

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**A/N: Begin semi-rantish-thing:**

***I normally have this habit of not replying/recognizing reviewers' comments (although I really want to all the time because you guys are awesome), but a certain **_**Jayla Fire Gal's**_** review caught my attention. Well, they all catch my attention. But I just wanted to point out that the song Human by Christina Perri was actually on my playlist when I wrote this! I set up a certain playlist for each chapter to get the proper mood. Last chapter, in particular, I also used Falling Inside the Black by Skillet (which is actually one of the main songs I use for every chapter) and Shots by Imagine Dragons. This chapter had a unique feel, however, and I had a hard time finding music to make it work. So I didn't really have any set songs that I used.**

***Then there was a review from guest-reviewer named **_**hithere**_** that addressed the concern of why I've made this story into a trilogy. I don't actually know how far I'm taking this story other than I know there has to be a sequel. Where I'm ending it still leaves holes to be filled in that would best be explained in a sequel. As for the third, it may not happen. The only reason I have it listed is because I really like the title that I came up with: **_**A Carnage of Fools**_**. I'm not naming the sequel that because the events that occur wouldn't match with the title. There's a vague idea for a third one, in which **_**A Carnage of Fools**_** makes sense, but I may decide to end this after the second one if it all gets wrapped up. **

**On the other hand, **_**hithere**_**, thanks for the comment about my story not being a "predictable cheese ball." It made me giggle and feel generally better about my writing. A special thanks to all of those giving me feedback; it's pretty heartwarming.**

**...**

**_TL;DR: You guys are awesome and make me feel so happy! Sorry for the insane amount of rambling! Large amounts of delicious cookies for all of you lovely people!_**

**End semi-rantish-thing.**

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_**Question Time! **_An extra cookie for each answer!

**1\. How do you feel about a slew of new OCs? Only three of them are hugely important to the plot [Lykos, JtR, and PtL (those are just abbreviations so that I don't spoil it]. The others are mainly filler characters for atmosphere and comical relief.**

**2\. How do you feel about multiple the POV third-person omniscient? Or it could switch around; each chapter being from Lykos's, Cinder's, Jack's, or Pitch/OC's views. Too many?**

**3\. Do**** you want me to tell you the songs I use as inspiration for each chapter? I will post them at the beginning/end of the chapter's author's notes from now on if so!**

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**God, I am SO SORRY for this long block of bolded words. You should not have had to suffer through all of that. It will never happen again!**

**Good day/night to you all!**


	35. Verity's Last Wish

**A/N: The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived! The end to _A Choice of Faults_. And then the start of a sequel, so it's only a bittersweet ending. Brace yourselves! (Warning: "expressive" language on Cinder's half)**

**Also, I really like being able to answer to your reviews, so I'll be doing that for some if I have something to add or to clear up from now on. Although that might make for some really long author's notes occasionally... :/**

**Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 35** \- _Verity's Last Wish_

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Cinder's body bumped and scraped against miles and miles of dirt, rocks, and tree roots before finally tumbling onto what seemed to be a field of grass. Her head hit the ground, which was alarmingly soft, and she lay there for a few moments. Not hearing anything but a faint wind and the scuttle of very tiny feet, Cinder tried to push herself up. She must be in Bunny's home, but it puzzled her. Didn't the Guardian live in Australia? Or was that just the accent taking over her judgment? Either way, the grass was amazingly soft and a filtered light above her felt warm on her back. If this was where Bunny lived, Cinder would have been glad to stay here forever had things not been what they were. The smell of flowers was nearby and Cinder wondered if she would be able to pick one or two and hold them closer. The incredible sense of peace was pleasant and nearly overwhelming. But she came here for a different, far more important reason.

She had fallen through the tunnel right after Bunny, and yet there was no sign of him. She didn't hear hopping or running of any sort. _Damn he moves quickly. How am I supposed to find the others?_ Cinder passed a hand through her hair─ which had gotten stuck partway due to the insane amount of knots─ and was trying to untangle it when she heard a faint, low gasp coming from up and to the left. She froze in place and waited for it again. Low murmurs hummed in her eardrums and she dropped as close to the ground as she could possibly get. Army crawling toward the noise, she hoped that she wouldn't bump into something. Just because she could still hear things didn't mean she could hear anything solid blocking her path. She wasn't some sort of superhero just because she'd become blind. Cinder would have laughed at her own train of thought had other matters not been more pressed for completion.

The ground Cinder was on began to slope upward and the noises grew a little louder. When she felt like she was close enough without being seen, she arched her hand upward and looked for some cover. There was something above her. Cold, dry: she was already in another tunnel? Cinder still felt the warm sun-like rays on her back, however, so she was possibly at an entrance. But how could an entrance be this low? Was the sound carrying from one of the other tunnels? Cinder groaned, thinking her brass act of bravery was going to be in vain.

"You hear dat, Bunny?" Cinder heard North's voice abruptly closer. Cinder clamped a hand over her mouth and shrunk away, her back hitting another dirt wall. Her fingers felt bony and cold─ deathly cold. Perhaps she was a spirit _now?_ It was possible, but Cinder would have to delve into the situation later. Feeling the vibrations of North's heavy footsteps, it seemed to be that he was next to her. There was no way he was crouching─ even then he wouldn't be able to crawl through this tiny space. Which mean that Cinder was in an uneven tunnel that was taller on his side perhaps? Or maybe she was under some sort of overhang?

A second pair of footsteps joined North's. "I thought I did, but I don't smell or see anything. You're just goin' crazy, North. C'mon, leave your coat here and let the eggheads take a look at your wounds. They need tendin', mate."

"Bah! Am not crazy, but is very warm," North agreed as the shuffling of fabric and fur was heard. Cinder's eyebrows narrowed, trying to puzzle together what was happening. The sound of something moderately heavy fell above Cinder, making her flinch instinctively. He must have dropped his coat off here. Perfect.

As she heard them walk away, Cinder reached a hand above her head and followed the contours of the lower ceiling until she touched a furry fabric. Not willing to be very patient, Cinder tugged at it. A rolling noise, made louder by the smallness of the cave, delivered itself from one edge to the other and four thuds were heard in the grass behind Cinder. She froze momentarily, afraid that someone had heard her. But they must be far inside the tunnel, because Cinder didn't hear anything. Biting her tongue, she tried to turn herself around in the enclosed space. She knocked her head several times on sturdy dirt, but several curses and bumps later and she was able to feel the heat on her face again. So far, so good.

Cinder pawed around in the grass until she grasped a smooth, spherical object. She couldn't see it, so she shook it a few times to make sure. She heard tiny specks hitting glass and a slight tinkle of bells. Grinning, she knew she'd found at least one snow globe. Where were the others? She only needed two, but she'd take as much as she could carry. Spreading her body out, Cinder began rolling in the surrounding grass and hit several other objects. _I must be a maniac. _She kicked and grabbed at them fitfully, wishing not for the first or last time that she could just fucking see anything at all. Having them all in her arms, Cinder tucked three into her extra large sweater and tied the bottom behind her back tighter so that they wouldn't fall out. She probably looked really fat, but that didn't matter. The only snow globe left was the one in her hand.

But before she said anything, she heard Bunny's voice carrying from out of several tunnels. Panicking, Cinder scrambled─ still on her hands and knees─ as far away as she could until she bumped into a large rock. She bit back a scream and desperately padded her way around it and away from his voice. But as soon as she had, she was able to make out what he'd said.

"Cinder _chose_ us over Pitch! She's not the bad guy we thought she was!" Bunny was livid and Cinder was touched. She never expected Bunny to care so much.

"We know dis now, Bunny," North consoled the other Guardian, his voice echoing lower than Bunny's, "but is too late."

"Ex─ except it's not!" Bunny insisted. "I saw her! She's alive!"

Cinder thought she heard a higher-pitched gasp from the Tooth Fairy. "Cinder survived that? That's impossible, we all saw what happened in the alley! Are you sure, Bunny?"

"I'm positive! But she said she could only buy us a little time. That means we've gotta hurry if we're gonna find Jack and defeat Pitch!" Bunny's voice sounded desperately urgent.

Cinder had heard enough. None of them would be going off to fight Pitch today. She couldn't afford to have any of them killed. It was too high a risk. Leaning back against her rock, Cinder held the snow globe close to her face. Maybe if she tried hard enough and held it close enough she would be able to see some sort of shine or glimmer or sparkle. A few long seconds later and Cinder gave up. It was so warm here, the feeling made her feel almost normal again. She wondered what the Warren looked like. How big was it? How green was the grass lying beneath her? What kinds of rocks were these? What kinds of flowers were here? Was there a stream somewhere? Was it like a forest? So many questions that Cinder knew she would never get the answer to. This place felt so lovely, and loneliness crept into her heart. The grass that tickled her bare legs reminded her of the small clearing in Old Burgess where she and Jack would meet up. Indulging in the image, Cinder pictured Jack lying next to her, his face looking into hers with that mischievous smile that could tell a thousand stories. He was closer than usual, though, something Cinder didn't quite understand, and his arms were reaching out for her. His light brown eyes were begging for an embrace and she'd curled into it. Some grass blades were still between them, poking through the entanglement in a burst of bright green. Even if they blocked tiny pieces of the view that was Jack, Cinder knew it wasn't enough. She wanted to truly see Jack again. His heated body next to hers was a memory Cinder held tight for a few moments before spoken tones reached her ears a little too late.

Snapping out of her daze, Cinder cursed herself as she heard the Guardians emerge from the tunnel. Cinder whispered into the snow globe and dropped it in front of her. The resulting blast of wind and threadbare whistle of another place was enough to catch the Guardians' attention.

Tooth must have gasped. "North! I thought you said you didn't have the energy to make a portal!"

"Wha─?" Cinder heard North checking his pockets. "Uh oh. Snow globe."

"Hey, look!"

"Stop!"

Cinder had been spotted. Pushing off the ground, she ran in the direction the wind took her and fell─ yet again─ through the portal. She'd really have to learn how to get used to these things. But then again, if all went well with her plan, this would be the last portal she'd ever take.

Her body was carelessly thrown and her sense of up and down clashed with that of left and right. Her feet hit the ground first, and Cinder thought she was standing. Trying to run so that her momentum wouldn't cause her to fall, she tripped over her feet and landed face first into some more dirt. Her hands and arms were scraped, marked by sharp pebbles and sandpaper-like textures. When the hell did she become this clumsy? It must be her lack of sight... except that she'd always had issues with portals, so her blindness wouldn't necessarily be the culprit. It sure didn't help, though. _Ugh, I hate portals._ Even without sight, Cinder knew exactly where she was: the little cabin in the woods where Pitch had awoken her and taught her things few people would understand. Sitting up as fast as she could, Cinder instantly felt like heaving. There was so little vitality left in her body. She patted the front of her sweater and was relieved to find that none of the snow globes had broken.

"Cinder?" Pitch's mystified voice floated toward her. "What in the─?" He was drawing closer, the heat of the smaller room evaporating with each step. He knew how she'd known to find him here, but he hadn't expected a dead girl to teleport herself there. Cinder tried to turn around and run back─ she wasn't looking to face off directly with Pitch─ and instead ran straight into him. Pitch's cloak was coarse against Cinder's skin. Or maybe her skin was coarse? She couldn't tell. Backing away yet again, Cinder's hands flew out in order to keep her balance.

"Pitch!" What was Cinder going to do? She couldn't just pull out a snow globe and chant randomly. Pitch could avoid that. She had to get his attention off of her somehow... Where was Jack?

A sudden kick to her back sent her to the floor.

There he was.

Jack pulled Cinder's hair, several clumps falling out easily, and forced her head upward. Then something cool touched her frail neck and Cinder was afraid to even gulp for air. "Wait! Don't kill me!"

Pitch chuckled. "They always beg," his voice faded in menace.

"You want to weaken Jack's center, right?" Stall him, stall him, stall him! "It weakens when he's around me. If you kill me, he'll be enraged. He'll overcome you and tear you to pieces! Now, if that doesn't sound like a lose-lose situation─" Cinder stopped speaking when she felt the metal object close the distance between itself and her throat. A prickle could be felt underneath her jaw and Cinder was beginning to fear the worst. But then it lessened; some sort of silent command?

The weight and cold air around Cinder lifted, her head falling back to the floor with a thud and a small crack. How many bones could she break and still walk around? The fearlings must be supporting her more than she thought. She scrambled into a kneeling position, hopefully facing Pitch. "Please! I can still be of use to you! I can bring the Guardians down! I know where they are!" _What the fuck are you doing, Cinder? Stall him, don't give him information! _Cinder was mentally punching herself because heavens know she couldn't really do it herself without dying in the process.

"What a liar you've become!" Pitch was mockingly impressed. "You used to be so open with me, my dear Cinder. What happened?"

"You went after my personal affairs; that's what happened!"

Pitch's incredulous laughter rang throughout the small space and forced Cinder to clutch her temples. "Your personal affairs? Was there ever anything personal about you? I _raised_ you to work for me, my dear. You don't have anything personal." He must have realized that telling her this was getting them nowhere and yawned. "Jack?"

Arms were thrown around Cinder's neck and she began to claw against the fabric. His muscles contracted as the space for breath became tighter and tighter. Freaking out, Cinder tucked her chin inside his inner elbow and relaxed her jaw. Making sure he squeezed a little tighter, she clamped down on his arm. A yelp resounded, vibrating through her hair with its closeness, and Cinder felt the pressure disappear. Falling to the ground and rolling, Cinder kicked outward. However, she hit dead air and was met with a foot in her ribcage. The ease with which cracks and crunches were heard inside her body meant she had very little time. She hadn't expected Pitch to make Jack do the dirty work, but it could work. She just had to survive. She knew how to fight.

She didn't know how to fight blind.

Cinder grabbed his foot on the next kick and pushed it in the opposite direction. She forced herself to stand up, wobbling unsteadily, and put her fists close to her face. A second later and her stomach was pounded into before she could retaliate. Cinder set one arm horizontal in front of her stomach and kept the other one diagonal across her face, crouching as low as she could. If she was a smaller target, perhaps fewer of Jack's hits would land. Cinder managed to block a few of the blows, but her arms were taking the brunt of the damage and would soon be useless. Tucking her head in, she shouldered him backward and punched in a vague direction. The attack caught the lower side of Jack's chin, unfortunately, and no real damage was done. He shoved her back, ice seeping into his hands and spreading onto Cinder's skin with every hit. Another step backward and Cinder tripped over something─ it might have been the stool she remembered being in the small cabin where she would sit often and pester Pitch about his work. She'd never been given an answer about what he was doing, and perhaps she never would. Jack's weight nearly landed on top of her, his face inches from hers. Something splintered on her stomach as Cinder recollected the three snow globes she'd stashed underneath her sweater. One must have broken, because the water soaked her dry skin before it turned to ice. His icy breath filmed frost over her nose and Cinder wrinkled it. If this had happened under different circumstances, Cinder was sure she'd be having her way. But at the moment, her mind couldn't linger for a moment longer.

"Jack..." Cinder whispered. She wasn't sure where Pitch was anymore in this permanent darkness, but she talked low to avoid being heard. "Jack. It's me, Verity," Cinder's throat caught on the name, forcing it out before she coughed up a lung. "You remember Verity, don't you?" Cinder's hands rose above her and awkwardly met Jack's head, which was much closer than she had guessed. Her fingers found his jaw line and cheeks and latched on. His skin was freezing but smooth and clear. Pieces of his hair fell over his face and ears, tickling her fingers. The upper part of his cheeks─ near his eyes─twitched and his lips grimaced briefly. Although she couldn't see his eyes, Cinder was sure they were beginning to falter. She just had to keep going a little further. Then Pitch would focus on him and give her an opportunity. "Do you remember the pond we would skate on? And the field we would lie in and talk for hours?" But as she continued to whisper to him, images of his human self came back into her mind. If she could remember seeing nothing else, she would always be able to see Jack. His warm-toned skin and bright brown hair encased his eyes with an enchanting affection that she knew was meant for her. But the image began to shift: his skin grew pallid, his eyes became a cold, chilling blue, and his hair became a stark, snowy white. The very person may have been the same, but there was something in the features that was different, aside from their actual colors. He looked at her in similar ways, but there was a mature childishness and longing sadness fighting for recognition. It was ironic how, despite being blind, Cinder could now choose how she wanted to see Jack. If by some crazy chance they both survived, she might not even want her eyesight repaired (even if that were possible). "Jack... God, this is so cliché. Please come back to me..."

A few seconds later, the metal was brought back to her throat. Cinder heard Pitch's triumphant chuckle somewhere behind her head. Cinder closed her eyes, although it made no difference, and felt extraordinarily tired. Her physical body had almost nothing left to it and this was going to all be for nothing. A tear slid down her cheek.

"...Verity?" _Shit, this worked?!_

Cinder opened her eyes and this darkness was somehow lighter than before. "Oh, Jack!" She whispered in unbearable relief. Jack was beginning to hear her, or at least she hoped. "It won't last long... Do you want to go back?"

Her hands were still on his cheeks as she felt the imperceptible nod prickle her senses.

"Do it!" Pitch's commanding voice was intensely dark and Jack shuttered as he was pulled under control again. Cinder recognized her chance. Tucking one hand into the bottom of her shirt, her fingers grasped one of the surviving snow globes and she pushed Jack away from her. Jack's grunt told her he was out of the line of fire. This was it.

Calling forth everything she had left she pegged the snow globe in Pitch's direction and listened as he caught it in his hands.

"_To skotádi!_" Cinder yelled, pronouncing the name as clearly as she could muster. It would have to do. It had to.

Cinder heard a divergent portal explode from the small snow globe in Pitch's hands. He began to curse at her before a giant black and purple mass swirled around Pitch's feet. He immediately began to fall and gripped the corners of the portal, desperately trying to climb back up. "Why, you...!" But before Pitch could do any more, his body was engulfed by the portal and the gravitational pulls on the other dimension lessened considerably. It was still very strong and Cinder could feel her body slipping backward, but it would have to do. On the other hand, she hadn't completely expected her plan to go this far. Now she had to figure out how to get Jack out of here. Cinder hadn't known this portal would be so substantial. It would begin to destroy this place if it remained open with entities in its proximity. Realizing she had one last snow globe, she tossed it in Jack's last known direction and muttered one last word, coughing at the end.

"Amaranthine..." Cinder had barely said the end of the word when she felt a cold hand grip hers tightly. Apparently she'd missed her target, because she heard a second portal open up behind Jack's chilling presence.

"Cinder! What are you doing?" Jack yelled above the deafening roar of two portals competing in the form of winds and aerial pressure. With Pitch temporarily out of the picture, the control of Jack's consciousness had lifted. It was partially too bad that it had to be that way, because now Jack would insist on saving her. Like he always had.

Cinder couldn't answer him. The feeling in her feet began to succumb to the numbness that happened when you went into _to skotádi_. The darkness. It was a special dimension that dealt with and disciplined everything evil in the world. It was where Pitch had been originally sealed when the new Guardians defeated him. But he had returned, thanks to Cinder, and now, also thanks to Cinder, he would return again sooner or later. It wasn't meant to be permanent. That would require too much power. But it would give Jack more time to get away. There had to be someone else that could extract the fearling inside him because Cinder couldn't last much longer.

Amaranthine would be the place to go to for information on fearling removal, even if it wasn't perfect. He'd find someone there. As soon as he mentioned Cinder's name, he would be taken under their care. Her sense of hearing began to blur, and she felt death beginning to swallow her. She was about to let it all go when she felt Jack yank her arm toward the other portal. Was he planning to take her with him?

"What's going on? I don't see anything!" His voice barely rose above the raucous mess surrounding them. A hazy panic worried Cinder. The portals were fighting for dominance of the air around them and Cinder was failing to grasp or think or hear or feel. If she could see, the edges of her vision would slowly be turning black. Then the ground was gone. She knew it. She was dying. And she was going to accept it. The world was set up so that the Guardians would win and Bunny would keep his promise to her. But then the air's compression felt different.

Jack had picked her up and was taking her through the other portal.

Then something grabbed her ankle and she was pulled downward forcefully. Cinder's body was unresponsive but her mind could still register faint remarks from her surroundings. She knew what was going on: the shadows were going to take something from her again. This time, she admitted defeat. They could take whatever they wanted.

"NO!" Jack's scream tore through the muffled silence and Cinder was jolted awake for a moment. She was being torn between two sides. And something in her mind was starting to fracture.

_Just let go, Jack... _

"Get to Amaranthine..." fell from her lips in hushed finality.

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The next thing Jack knew, he was lying face down in sand. Tossing his limp body around so that his face was to the blinding sun, Jack covered his face in his hands. But his hands had been carrying more sand and it only got into his eyes and nose and mouth more so than before. Grunting in pain, he wiped away the looser particles and began to dig the deeper pieces out of his eyelids. When he thought he was done, Jack tried to open his eyes. Oh, what a mistake that was. The sunlight was much stronger and Jack swore that he could feel his face melting. How long had he been in this place? Sitting up slowly, Jack pulled his hood over his head to shield himself from the rays' immediate heat. Blinking lazily, Jack tried to take in his surroundings. There was sand, lots of sand. Everywhere. Jack grimaced and pinched his eyebrows together. Where had the portal taken them? Whatever "Amaranthine" was, this didn't look to be it.

Jack was wheeling his head around carefully when he spotted a clump of reddish hair peeking out of the sand a few feet away. His heart lurched and he struggled to run over to the body, his feet scorched by the surface of the sand.

"Cinder! Cinder!" Jack yelled to her until he got close enough to see her. "Cind─" he started as he turned her body over so he could see her face. But instead, he was met with a grotesque figure equaling that of what he'd seen in the memory retrieval of Cinder: burned and beyond recognition. Her hair was little more than a few clumps and her skin─ or what was left of it─ was caked with blood and burnt-black muscle. The sweater Bunny had gotten for her was singed and resembled more of a very small t-shirt. Parts of her bones were visible: her ribcage, one arm, a foot, and several other places were already bleached by the sun. If she ever looked dead, she looked it now. Jack's eyes were suddenly wet and he couldn't stop the tears from crashing down onto her cheek. "No... No! Cinder... Verity..."

But then her body twitched. Her mouth twisted into a gaping frown and hideous noises began to crawl out. She began to thrash and scream uncontrollably. Jack tried to stop her, to hold her arms down or something, but he was afraid that too much force would kill her too soon. Jack tried to tell her to stop, but she didn't seem to hear. Her words were incoherent and her eyes were both swampy yellows, unseeing and far away. She didn't recognize him, or she thought she was already dead and feared that Jack was, too. Or maybe she was already dead and this was some sort of chemical thing that made her body move so jerkily. Jack admitted that he had no clue and the heat was bearing down on him so much that he could not think clearly.

It was sweltering out and Jack felt woozy. Leaning back on his feet, crouching, Jack's body wobbled from fatigue. He looked around them and saw the dunes wavering and shape-shifting even when he thought he was standing still. Then two dark figures were staring at him. Jack tried to squint his eyes, but the image didn't become any sharper. As he attempted to yell to them, Jack fell backward and fainted, the heat consuming his consciousness.

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_Do you think we should help them? _The giant wolf, standing with its shoulders well above four feet, its head resting higher than the young man's beside him, muttered silently. He'd seen the portal open up from a few miles back but hadn't mentioned anything until they got a closer look. As a wolf, he'd be able to see these things much further away than would the man at his side. The man had jet black hair that gleamed blue in the deadly sunlight. His yellow eyes descended the valley and caught onto what the wolf was talking about. There were two bodies, seemingly stranded, lying next to each other. One had amazingly white hair and a bright blue sweatshirt on. The idiot must have gotten heatstroke, the man surmised. But the other... the man's eyes couldn't leave its mangled desperation. Scanning closer, he noticed the hair was shining bright orange. The only person he'd known with that hair color had been...

"Cinder!" The man threw himself down the steep side of the dune and began sliding down the loose pebbles and sand. Whatever the wolf had been talking about earlier didn't matter because it was Cinder. Cinder was here. He'd finally found her.

The wolf growled after him. _Lykos! Wait!_

But the man named Lykos wasn't listening. Cinder had gone missing a little over a week ago and he hadn't seen her since. Now she shows up injured in the middle of the desert? And who was that person beside her? She'd probably taken refuge at another nightclub and picked up an ill-willed stranger. Knowing he was more than likely the _very last _person she'd ever want to see, Lykos slowed his approach. He saw that her body was horribly mangled, bones and flesh exposed haphazardly. The sight made his stomach churn unsteadily. The wolf caught up to him in a few effortless bounds and demanded an explanation.

"I don't know how... but that's Cinder. We need to get her out of here, Fenrir," Lykos knelt beside her and assessed the damage. She appeared to be already dead, but Lykos knew that this was how she had always truly looked.

Lykos was the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and as such a myth, he had a grain of truth as well. His exceptional lying skills had supposedly gotten him into trouble and eaten. But the truth was far from that. Fenrir, the wolf that he insisted had shown up in his fields, had taken him in and taught him how to lie, to suggest different realities. And in turn, how to distinguish different realities. He'd known since the beginning that Cinder wasn't a spirit or human. He'd always been able to see through her, see the black shadowy creatures that kept her alive. But now that he was actually seeing it, strangely without the creatures, he wanted to fix it. If she died, Lykos couldn't forgive himself. He needed to apologize; he'd been working on one since the day she left, and she needed to stay alive long enough to hear it.

As for the guy next to her, Lykos couldn't have cared less. But when he looked closer, something about the boy seemed familiar. Who was he? Before Lykos could think on it further, Cinder's body shifted. His eyes returned to her too late and her broken nails caught the side of his face. Letting out a hiss, Lykos leaned back and watched what she would do. Her eyes were open now and her mouth as gaping open at an unnatural angle. Was she a zombie now? She sure looked like one.

_You know that what you call "zombies" do not exist, do you not? _Fenrir sat across from him, cocking his head to the side and watching the events as they unfolded.

Lykos sneered. Of course Fenrir could hear his thoughts. He could hear Fenrir's, too, but at least he didn't go around parading it. That was part of the reason they'd fought four years ago, but Fenrir had come back, willing to apologize and forgive and move on for some grand purpose or something. It was what had given Lykos the nerve to work on his apology to Cinder, had she come back on her own. Today was Lykos and Fenrir's first trial at reuniting, and already the wolf was getting on his nerves. "I know this, Fen─"

Cinder's maniacal claws caught his face again and Lykos growled. "Damn girl was always so aggressive."

_Is this how humans die naturally? It seems rather painful,_ Fenrir thought absently. He'd been around long enough to understand how people died, but seeing Lykos get hit by a dying girl was morbidly hilarious.

Lykos ignored him. "Cinder? Cinder, calm down. It's me, Lykos. I know, you probably hate me, but can you─"

Cinder swatted at him again and began to scream. She kicked and punched and clawed and flailed so feebly that Lykos wondered if this was the last time he'd see her alive. It was an ugly, monstrous, and mournful state and he wasn't sure he could look on for much longer.

_Do you want me to end her misery?_ The wolf sauntered over toward her head and leaned down, waiting on Lykos's go-ahead. His jaws were separating slowly, the gleam of his white teeth reflecting deadly intent.

"GET AWAY!" Cinder's parched vocal chords managed to choke out. Something was wrong with her voice, however, and both of their ears caught it.

"She's deaf...?" It was just a guess, but clearly she hadn't heard Lykos's voice moments ago.

_And blind, from the looks of her eyes,_ Fenrir added in agreement. It made sense as to why she kept hitting Lykos. He slid away from her momentarily to think it through. How did Cinder come to be like this, so close to death in the desert? He'd searched everywhere in the area for her and never found a trace. Yet she showed up out of the blue in the desert, with some random albino, blind and deaf? What the hell?

Lykos glanced at the white-haired boy. He had moaned and turned around, still unconscious. Lykos was tempted to leave him there until the boy muttered something.

"Cinder..."

At the sound, Cinder's body grew still. What sorcery was that? Lykos's eyes grew wide. Whatever happened to Cinder, this guy knew. Cursing under his breath, he steadied himself and tucked his arms underneath Cinder's perilously cold body. He asked Fenrir to pick up the boy and carry him on his back. They had a long way to walk.

_Where are we taking them?_ The wolf blocked his path instead of following orders. His wild yellow eyes glared into Lykos's soul, but Lykos wasn't bothered by it much anymore. Still, the intensity was nothing to laugh at. And he'd asked a valid question, after all. He waited a moment to make sure Fenrir wasn't going to explode on him.

"You've heard of Amaranthine, correct?"

Fenrir growled darkly. _We don't even know where it's gone! The location changes every year and I've yet to track last year's area! And you just suppose we'll stumble upon it in the desert? _Yep. He'd exploded. A small explosion, Lykos had to admit. He'd been expecting Fenrir to jump on him or something. Of course, Fenrir hadn't been around for over four years. He wouldn't have known about Lykos's... other affairs. Yes, Amaranthine was hard to track, but that was _his own_ doing. Fenrir would find out soon enough, though. He always did.

"Just shut up and start walking. We'll reach it by sunset," Lykos didn't usually order the giant wolf around. But this was about Cinder now, not their damaged partnership.

The wolf was averse to the sudden sense of confidence coming from his younger counterpart, but obliged. He dug his body underneath the white-haired boy's and lifted him out of the sand. His body lay limp and covered by the wolf's fur, but he was staying in place. That was all that mattered to Lykos. His mind was blocked off from communication and he figured they'd be done talking for a while.

Lykos started walking ahead of Fenrir, Cinder in his quivering arms. Peering into her sullen and destroyed features, Lykos felt remorseful. He should have gone after her as soon as he'd heard her shut the door to the apartment. But perhaps that hadn't been his choice.

Cinder had always made her own, that was for sure.

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**A/N: THAT'S THE END OF **_**A CHOICE OF FAULTS**_**, GUYS! Whew! I know that, likely, you guys want to get a start on the next story in the series. And I promise, it WILL happen. Just... can I have a week or two to prepare some things? I know you've all had to be very patient, but I want to give you an amazing story!**

**Also, the words "_to skotádi"_ mean "the darkness" in Greek. But you'll learn more about this in the sequel. :)**

**Next chapter will be uploaded on Friday (or sooner if you wish!) and it is the interlude and summary chapter. Then the second adventure begins! :D**

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**Songs for Inspiration: **_M__ost chapters will only have one song, but this was the last chapter of the first story and thus special._

1\. もう一度だけ (Mou Ichido Dake) by Da-iCE (You'll have to use Google if you want to listen to it because the full version isn't on YouTube anymore; also, I picked this one because I understand Japanese but there is a really good English version if you can find it. I can translate if desired.)  
2\. Fire and Fury by Skillet (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!)  
3\. Shots by Imagine Dragons (I personally think this is Cinder in song form.)

Wow... I have such wide music tastes. If there are any that you think match, let me know!

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**Reviews:**

_hithere_: The OCs are mainly just there for support, and they wouldn't be in much detail (HINT: they're immortals; thus many readers would get the general idea anyway). Now that I'm looking over my notes, only Lykos and one other are super important (I'm not counting Cinder because she's not a "new" OC). The others just get cameos/made fun of/are there for the sake of plot advancement. Their parts will be so small that I even hesitate to call them OCs other than the fact that they aren't canon. I hope that helps!

In addition, the POV would stay to Jack, Cinder, and Lykos. However, there will be snippets of POV that are the "opposite forces" (not necessarily bad guys) simply to add an ominous tone. Also, I felt like I didn't add enough of Pitch in this fic to properly fill you guys in on pieces of his plan. I'd only be adding his in to keep the action/tension of the story building. Same thing will happen for the other Guardians: snippets (but the occasional full chapter will be devoted to Bunny and Tooth in particular).

_Jayla Fire Gal_: Your reviews always make me chuckle/smile like an idiot! You didn't really pose any questions but I just wanted to let you know! Also, you give such high praise and it feels really great knowing I'm writing something that people really like. (This last sentence can also be said to reviewer and guest _Sophia._)

Oh, and to the newest reviewer of the story (guest, ch.4), it was meant to be 15*F, which is about -9*C. I had it be Fahrenheit in the story because the story takes place somewhere in Pennsylvania, US. Either way, I don't think it's that cold at all. My region is used to -34*C (-30*F) or worse during the winter and _maybe _23*C (75*F) in the summer. Yay for living up north! (It may be a little pointless to answer your question in the 35th chapter when the question is from chapter 4...)

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_Thank you all so much and have a wonderful day/night! :)_


	36. Interlude

**A/N: So, because I'm weird, I wrote this before I actually finished the last of the chapters. I guess it was a way to keep myself on track or something. I ended up editing a part of this so that it fit with what I did end up writing and publishing so that it didn't sound awkward. I will warn you that this is exceedingly short, and I'm sorry about that, but I'm trying not to give away too much. Plus, I wanted it to seem more detached, thus no dialogue. **

**The summary for **_**A Change of Fates**_** is at the end. I've also changed the cover of this story to another drawing I've done. :) It wasn't complete in time, so it isn't colored, but the lineart's there. I'll have a full version done soon (hopefully).**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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_Interlude_

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It had been six months since Jack and Cinder disappeared. The Guardians had presumed both to be dead by the third month, around April. Easter had passed without much commotion, but kids around the world were disappointed that the eggs weren't as good as last year's. North should have reprimanded Bunny, but everyone knew what was troubling each and every one of them. Sandy's dreams were less vivid, Tooth didn't go out in the field anymore and children received less money for their teeth, North hadn't had the motivation to make toys, and Bunny could barely keep the hope alive. After the ordeal, he struggled to keep his promise to Cinder. He refused to believe that she had died. But after Easter had come and gone, he went back to the Bennett house. The first thing that was noticed was that Jamie appeared lifeless and hallow, even in his sleep. The reality had dawned on him after Pitch had disappeared and the forces controlling him had faded away. Even Sophie had become a little different despite not understanding anything that had happened. She heard Bunny appear in the room and she ran to him, hugging him with tears in her eyes. When asked what was wrong, she said that Cinder hadn't come back and she was worried that Cinder had forgotten about her. Bunny forced himself not to feel that emotion again and told the girl that he would be there for her. The little girl's face seemed to brighten a little, but clearly something was missing. Nonetheless, Bunny visited when he could and kept his promise as often as he could bear.

At some point after the incident, Bunny told the others about all that Cinder had told him in the hospital. Jack had been taken under Pitch's control and he wasn't the Guardian they knew him to be any longer. He'd also admitted that he had sensed Cinder in the Warren before she stole the snow globes. He had a feeling that she was going after Pitch. A few hours later and the presence of fear in the world strangely diminished. And yet, there was no sign of the winter spirit. The winters around the world still arrived, but the fun, the snowball fights and beautiful ice sculptures, were all missing. There were fewer snow days filled with adventures. What little belief Jack Frost had gathered was already slipping away again. The life in kids' eyes was dimming. Even if they hadn't believed in Jack Frost, the young winter spirit had an effect on all the kids of the world. With significance that potent, the effects of his absence were rippling through the world at alarming speeds. And although the world was losing its fear, it had also lost its fun.

A candlelight vigil between the four Guardians and the fairies and yetis─ who had all healed well and no casualties resulted─ was held on a high balcony in the Workshop, across from Sandy's floor plaques. Jack's light blue frost designs circled around a hexagonal snowflake on the floor. Candles were settled at each corner─ but one was placed in the middle. Bunny said that it was Cinder's candle as he lay Jack's broken staff and a small ring beside it. He'd seen Jack show Cinder the ring before they encountered the memories and how Jack had said it was hers. Bunny found it and the snapped staff in the middle of the ruins of the Globe Room when they were restoring the place. It seemed only fair that it was placed for both of them. The others didn't want the vigil to be for both, that it should be separate, but they said nothing. The solemn occasion wore everyone down to the ground, where they knelt and held hands with their heads bowed. Jack's silhouette painted onto the floor's hexagonal plaque had been Bunny's work. Jack was flying─ something he had practically always done─ with his staff in his hands and his hair going in every direction. It was a dark blue outline, but Bunny could imagine Jack's snarky grin and daring blue eyes. Everyone could. His face was still fresh in their minds. They doubted it would ever fade away. No amount of finality to the supposed end of his life could take that away from them.

Not that they knew, but Jack was alive. Jack Frost, on the other hand?

He was a completely different story.

As for Cinder, her well-being was unknown to everyone for months. Alive or dead, she was the reincarnation of Schrödinger's cat, metaphorically speaking. She very well could be either, but no one wanted to look for her. If the Guardians did find her, they had a good idea what she'd look like. Both cases were tragic and they'd had enough sorrow. They never knew the connection between Jack and her, except for Bunny's vague descriptions of "they grew up together." He couldn't say whether they were siblings, friends, or otherwise. Cinder never went in depth. Tooth found the shattered tooth case in the room Bunny and she had left the pair in on that fateful day. The teeth, being so old, had already disintegrated into dust and fallen into the cracks of the floorboards. Whoever Cinder had been would be lost to time forever. Only Jack knew the secret.

But Cinder was alive as well. Verity on the other hand?

She was a completely different story.

Lykos─ the Shepherd's Boy─ the Boy Who Cried Wolf─ which ever name you attributed the twenty-something immortal─ worked day and night for months trying to fix her condition: blind, deaf, and practically dead. Few people understood the nature of his powers, and fewer wanted to find out. Even he didn't want to find out most days. Bits and pieces could be explained, but apart from telling really good lies he knew little else. The wolf at his side couldn't explain even if he tried─ Fenrir spoke in an ancient tongue only Lykos could communicate through. But the giant wolf─ indeed from the Norse legends─ helped his familiar in attempting to restore the girl. The history between them had been rocky at best, but Lykos was determined for some reason or another to keep her alive. The Moon told him there was a plan. Buy Lykos had waited six hundred years with no answer until Jack and Cinder showed up. Who was he and why did they matter?

But that was a completely different story.

Pitch found his way back into his position he had before, thanks to a string of unsolved murders that resulted in such intense fear that he had become necessary and relevant. Being the king of fear and all things nightmarish, it was only a matter of time before he'd have escaped again. And although his fearlings were scattered wide, they were slowly sucking the life force out of the thousands of kids he'd scared into becoming his army. The second of the Dark Ages was about to begin. But this time around, he would have help. All he would have to do was implement his new plan at the right time and the belief of the world would be his. He would rule over the immortal world and plunge the human world into chaotic fear.

But that was a completely different story.

All of these stories─ and the connections between them─ are about to get a whole lot deeper.

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**Summary: **_**A Change of Fates**_

_Jack finds out that Cinder is alive. The Guardians find out that Jack is alive. Pitch finds out that there's someone else as dark as he is_─ _maybe darker. And Lykos finds out that he's been thrown into a race against the end of peace for all immortals. In the struggle against time, everyone learns that nothing is black and white nor set in stone. Each little choice will change something and making the wrong one will spell disaster._

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**A/N: I hope all of you guys are excited! There is so, so, so much I'm not telling you in this chapter and it hurts that I can't just spill it all right now! Also, Jamie and Sophie will be as much a part of this story as everyone else is, so don't worry! Cinder would never forget about Sophie...**

**Oh, and I might make this JackxCinder... but I'm still on the fence about it. What do you guys think?**

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**Song for Inspiration:**

The Resistance by Muse (I think this might accelerate some hype. :D)

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_Have a wonderful day/night! :)_


	37. Amaranthine

**A/N: The first chapter to **_**A Change of Fates**_**! YAY! And it's a whole day early!**

**Also, first new OC (aside from Lykos and Fenrir and a small cameo)! I have him as just a plot-setter, but if you want, I'll bring him in for a little more. I'm just going to tell you guys right now, there will be inconsistencies with some accents. I'm going off of some random voice clips. It's probably not the best but you'll see what I mean. At least I'm trying!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! :)**

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**Chapter 1** \- _Amaranthine_

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Jack woke up with a start, sweating and screaming for a brief moment. There were creatures above him, all vastly different as they stared down at him with unnerving curiosity. Their shapes wobbled and teetered in his vision and he was having a hard time understanding anything. He'd been lying on hot sand, but now his back was against a glossy, smooth surface and it felt gratefully cold. His vision refused to hold its strength long enough to discern anything, and before he knew it, he was out again. The darkness was morbidly comforting when the only waking hours Jack had been exposed to were filled with agony, confusion, and fear. Well, the fear never went away. Even in the depths of unconsciousness, Jack felt the intensity of the fearlings multiplying inside his body. They fed off of his condition whether he was alert or on the verge of death. The pulsing throb that echoed through his skin begged to let him die. The only thoughts that kept him from losing his grip on reality revolved around the red-haired girl that insisted on going skating.

The ice was thick and blank, a canvas ready to be painted on. Skates were strapped to their feet and six blades curved around, marking their own paths on the winter paradise. One pair was haphazard and nonparallel, indecisive but happy. Another pair was linear, jumpy, and had tight spins carving into the surface. The last pair was elegant and swooped in giant circles around the former, keeping them together and safe at its own expense. Jack focused on that pair, as he always had since he befriended the wearer attached to them. As soon as the black expanse took away the pain from the present, he couldn't let go of the green eyes that asked him so much without saying a word. He knew, at the end of this dream, that one pair would always fall through. Every time, Jack expected it to be him drowning all over again, swallowing the frigid water as it washed over him anew. And every time, it was the girl that fell through. The most graceful and the most timid had been the bravest and the most selfless. But as she fell and the vision faded out, Jack couldn't help but sense her elsewhere, even in the uncertainty of his comatose state.

Jack's eyes flickered open as he heard the clink of glass somewhere to his right. Delirious, his arm struck out in a vague direction and he was forced to see more light than he'd remembered having existed. He yelled again, but this time the blackness didn't come back for him. Jack pulled himself into a sitting position, grimacing at the pain in his chest. Thoughts swam around in his head, pining for his attention. His lips parted in an attempt to answer them all, but it was too overwhelming.

"Juss sit back, Laddie," a thick accent burrowed into Jack's ears. His head reeled to the side where the noise came from only to find that there was someone else in this─ where was he?

Jack was about to cry out, but he couldn't find the voice's owner. Despite the lights still shifting, he could make out a nightstand with a glass of water on top. It took awhile to make the connection, but Jack still didn't see anyone there with him. "W-wh-who...?"

"Aye, be askin' yoo the same thing," a weight sat down next to Jack's stomach. The suddenness caused Jack to jerk back and instantly injure something in his chest. What was wrong with his chest? The entirety of his torso felt like it was about to collapse. The details were fuzzy but starting to shift into place. "The boy didn' give us much to go on."

Jack felt his head loll over to where the weight was and found himself staring into a pair of bright green eyes, eerily similar to the skating girl's... The figure also had red hair that hid underneath a green hat, but it was deeper, richer, and fuller. And shorter. There was also a moustache and a beard. This wasn't a girl and it didn't sound like one either. Jack blinked a few times, shunning the powerful urge to fall back to sleep. This man was looking at him sympathetically, but Jack couldn't quite understand why.

"What yoor name be, Lad?" The voice strained as the man pressed on his knees to stand up. It was after a few moments of the man's height still not changing that Jack partially realized who─ what─ he was staring at. The man in front of him was comically short in stature, hardly rising higher than the nightstand beside him.

Jack was still out of it. "What're you... a─ a mouse?" Genius. He couldn't think of anything else that was this small. Not as good as _Kangaroo_ had been. If he was going to be making fun of anyone, it should really be himself. There was some sort of irony in Jack noticing that he was very much not sober, but it wasn't like he could get it through his head at the moment.

"Aye be a Leprechaun," the man corrected Jack sternly, "and best yoo doon' forget it." The man wagged his finger at the teenage boy. "Now, less try agayn. Yoor name is...?"

White hair fell into his eyes as Jack leaned his head forward, wondering if this was some sort of trick. "Jack. Jack Frost," he drawled out, more for his sake than for the short guy's. There was something unclear about his recent memories and the pieces weren't necessarily filling themselves in.

The Leprechaun visibly stiffened, but he shook it off before Jack could register the movement. "Oo dearie..." he muttered under his breath before continuing a little louder, "th'name's Patrick. But doon't go callin' me Patty. I'll pound yoo in if I e'er hear that one. Doc's fine, but yoo'll have to clear that nickname wi' Cinder, shood she be wakin' up anytime soon."

The name clicked and Jack's conscious state veered into overdrive. The memories of─ well, Jack didn't know how long ago─ came flooding back and hyperventilation began to kick in. The girl with red hair. Cinder. She was there. She─ she had sacrificed her humanly body to save him. But... what was before that? Jack remembered waking up from the memory retrieval─ more memories bombarded his skull in the background but he chose to ignore it momentarily─ and they had searched everywhere. Then Pitch... and he made Jack fight Cinder, crushing her against a pillar and hearing her bones crunch as he actively tried to kill her. He'd been aware the entire time, but his will had been sapped. Even Cinder─ still looking like Verity─ hadn't been able to get through to him. Then she'd tried to... she had her hand on his chest, opening his skin and veins and muscle... and she was pulling something out. Jack's hand subconsciously went to his chest and he nearly heaved. Then she'd left. She left him alone to fester under Pitch's control. But she must have come back at some point, right? Jack remembered thinking about the pond...

That was all he remembered thinking about. Even now, as he was remembering the rest of the events with extreme clarity, his thoughts returned to the pond. A sense of homesickness churned in his gut, making the pain worse. "Wh-where's Cinder?"

The man observed Jack's reaction with old, knowing eyes. "It's better yoo doon't know, Lad."

But Jack was awake now, and he wasn't about to be dismissed. "Tell me where she is! I took her through the portal with me─ her body─ she was─ then I fell and─ and it was so hot! She's gotta be here─" Jack cut himself off, thinking of more questions. "Wh-where─ where is here?" He was finding it harder to breathe, like his lungs had been set on fire.

"Calm doown, Froost, Laddie!" The man set his hands on Jack's shoulders, careful not to jolt the boy beyond what he was capable of handling. "Yoor in safe 'ands. Thoough I doon't know fer how loong. This is the upstairs to the Amaranthine Inn."

Amaranthine was an inn? "In the middle of a desert?" Jack choked out, forgetting about everything else for a moment. Who would want to take lodging up in the middle of the desert? It was so hot that Jack felt his body heating up and about to spark into flames again.

The miniature man laughed genuinely. It was deep and hearty with a twinge of disbelief. "M'boy, yoor in Vegas. Oor, underneath it, Aye shood say," the man scratched his beard as he looked over the poor boy. "Noo matter, we shood get yoo new clothes. Even underground, it be too hot fer a spirit o' the winter, what with yoo wearin' that jumper an' all! Say yoo brooght Cinder 'ere throough a poortal, eh? Aye'm guessin' we be glad yoo did, oor Lucas'd never 'ave found yoo..." The Leprechaun kept talking but Jack was having a hard time keeping up with what he was saying. The accent was thick, but Jack thought he had picked up the word "Vegas" and the name "Lucas" in there. He definitely knew he'd heard Cinder's name, and he clung to it as if she was right there with him. Oh, how he wished he knew where she was!

"Where's Cinder?" Jack repeated. He didn't care if he was cutting off the older man's speech. He'd mentioned talking to her. The events clicked in his brain and he was fully awake.

"Pooshy one, arn't yoo?" Patrick scolded him with his hands on his caricature-like hips. But his expression softened as he looked away and took off his hat to rake a free hand through his curls. "She didn' look too good when she was broought in. Neither o' yoo looked t'be good, if Aye'm any bit of honest. She was taken to a different room that oonly Lucas an' that bloody sheep-eater can access. Been in there a month without mention o' progress, m'fraid. Aye woodn't get yer hopes up on seein' 'er soon. Or atoll."

It's been a month since the incident? Much of Jack's hope was dashed. "She's dead?"

Patrick threw his hands up in defeat. "Thas the thing, Laddie! Lucas is bein' all cryptic aboot her condition. Troost me, we've all been waitin' with baited breath. But no moor horror stories. Yoo shood be restin'. Take yer jumper off, yoo won' be wakin' up in as bad a sweat."

There were more questions than answers and Jack was beginning to protest when the man plucked a four-leaf clover from a pouch on his belt and tucked it behind Jack's ear. Jack immediately grabbed at his ear, but nothing was there. Some sort of magic trick? Before he could ask, the man motioned him to take off the sweatshirt. Jack's eyes were bugging out. He _never_ took off his sweatshirt. But if it meant he could wake up not feeling like he was going to die, or at least feel a little less so, perhaps it was worth it. It was especially worth it if it meant he could see Cinder again. Jack reluctantly ducked his head into the sweatshirt's thick cotton material and wormed his arms underneath so that he could lift the article off his skin. Once it was off, Jack exhaled in relief as some cold reentered his body. Patrick made a move to take the sweatshirt from him, but Jack tucked it into the other side of the bed in a sign of defiance. Just because he was being taken care of didn't mean that he was going to listen to every command they gave. The man seemed to understand that and nodded. He was on his way out the door when Jack's voice piped up. "What was the thing with the clover?"

The man smiled at the winter spirit warmly. "A wee bit o' luck, Lad. Yoo'll need it."

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It wasn't until Jack woke up again that he realized something about the Leprechaun's explanations. He'd said that _Lucas_ had found Cinder and him and brought them here. Cinder's memories of Las Vegas and Lykos─ but Cinder had called him by another name─ infiltrated his dreams and forced him to comprehend the extent of his situation.

Jack was in Las Vegas and Cinder was being taken care of by a guy who had used her selfishly.

And he had to get back to the Guardians. The extent of his epiphanies caused Jack to overheat and he collapsed again.

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Without windows, Jack couldn't tell if it was day or night, much less what day it was. He'd been waking up and passing out several times without ever knowing _when_ he was. His door remained closed because Jack never had the strength to get out of the bed he was in. He also hadn't seen the short redheaded man again, which was a relief in itself. Jack couldn't have deciphered that accent even if he was completely himself. Afraid that he would still be too weak to stand, Jack was content to stare at the ceiling. At some point he'd noticed that he was shirtless, but it didn't bother him. If anything, it made the heat slightly more bearable. Jack had torn off the covers in his sleep for this reason as well. How anyone could live in places like these befuddled Jack. The cold would always be infinitely better than this bone-melting inferno. Jack lifted his head to glance over his wounds but saw that his bruises and cuts were healed completely. There was very little trace of anything that would prove his story. It was unfortunate in that aspect but at least he didn't feel too much pain anymore.

The only real pain he could feel was that he _knew_ Cinder was close to him. He wondered if she was still considered alive, if she had come back around, and if she knew that Jack was here. Was she looking for him? Would the strange Leprechaun point out Jack's room? Had he been asleep when she'd tried to visit him? The questions began to nag at his heart more so than his consciousness, and that's when he knew that he wasn't going to fall back into a fitful sleep again. His body no longer screamed at him as he tried to stand up, but his head still caused the room to wobble. Swinging his feet over the side of the bed, his bare feet touched a thin carpet over a wooden floor. Jack was scared for a moment that the floor might be scalding hot, too, but he cast the thought aside as he took a tentative step. Then another, and another, until he was finally more stable on his feet. The feeling of walking felt immensely pleasurable as he proceeded to stretch upward, crackling bones he hadn't known to be sore until that moment. Oh, this life was cruel. He walked around a bit more and was ecstatic when he realized he could walk around and jump without crashing to the floor. He was about to walk up to the door when a knock jarred his advancement.

"H-hello?" Jack suddenly grew cautious. He instantly reached for his staff, twirling his body around the room when he recognized the fact that he did not have it. He was internally freaking out, looking everywhere─ even in the impossible places─ for his beloved staff. Without it, how was he to protect himself?

The door opened and the same short man walked in. "Aye see yoor up and aboot. Feelin' better, are yoo?"

Jack's defenses lowered considerably. "Y-yeah. I am," Jack answered as the man started to walk into the room like he owned the place. It ticked Jack off for some reason; this room had become his temporary home and he didn't like intruders. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name last time. You are?"

The man looked at him in surprise. "Yoo remember that far back, Laddie? I'm shoocked. That was o'er two moonths ago! It's April, mind yoo. The moonth, noot my name. That be Patrick, son. Patrick the Leprechaun." The Leprechaun reached out a stubby, weathered hand toward Jack and he took it hesitantly. This man was _the_ Leprechaun? He remembered Tooth telling him some time ago that it was possible he was to be Guardian. Looking over the man now, Jack wasn't sure if Patrick could've won if there was ever anything to win. But there's always more that meets the eye, if he'd learned anything in the past... wait. It's been over two months since this man was last in the room? Not to mention that it was apparently April? When did he get here? Jack was opening his mouth to ask, but Patrick had continued speaking too quickly in an accent that Jack had a hard time understanding. "Aye guess it's understandable, foorgettin' names and such. Yoo were in such a fuss we 'ad noo choice but to give yoo summa my fair stock. Must notta 'ad spirits in yoor life, Laddie, 'cause yoo were out. Aye toold 'im we were givin' yoo too much, but the fool ne'er listens to 'is ole man. Didn' think yoo'd be out fer soo loong, but Aye'd guess that's what it took fer yoor body to cope with the spirits."

Jack's expression only grew more confused. After a second of combining various facts and words together from this man's ramblings, he was able to form a coherent response. "Who gave me what?"

The man blinked, not comprehending the question. "Ah, yes. Aye'm soorry; gettin' ahead o' meself. Lucas─"

"You mean Lykos, right?"

Patrick was once again dumbfounded. "Aye... 'e'd be the oone who brought yoo 'ere. 'xcept we call 'im Lucas. Seems 'e's always preferred that one. Anyhoo, yoo'd wooken up after yoo'd gotten 'ere an' began tearin' up the place. Took several o' us to take yoo down. Then Lucas decided yoo needed soome calming doown and used my alcohol on yoo. We call 'em spirits 'cause it be moore accurate. Spirits for spirits, am I right, Laddie? Ah, and," the Leprechaun twiddled his thumbs worryingly, "Aye'd be careful aboot the others 'roound 'ere. They doon' take too kindly to Guardians. Neither doo Aye, but it seems yoo've a yarn to spin fer Lucas. He's been waitin'. Come down, come doown," Patrick ushered the boy out the door, "Aye'll be lookin' after yoo 'til 'e shoows up. Aye'd ne'er been able to keep track o' 'im."

Jack was still thinking about the fact that he'd apparently wreaked havoc on poor─ people? Spirits?─ while entirely unaware. Jack would never harm anyone on purpose, but if he'd been having a nightmare or if the fearlings were taking their toll... he didn't want to think about it. He debated on grabbing his sweatshirt─ it was the only thing he had that would cover his torso. But the man paced himself ahead of the winter spirit and motioned for him to follow. Jack, figuring that he couldn't know anything better than this man, obeyed him. He wished with all his heart that he could have been holding his staff. Now, with no shirt as he'd just realized, he felt naked. His sweatshirt, his staff... if it weren't for his stark white hair, Jack wasn't sure if he'd even recognize himself if he looked in a mirror. The hallway he'd been brought into was much like the room he'd just been in. It was narrow and a little dark except for a dim light that swung freely from the ceiling. The place didn't seem dilapidated, but it certainly wasn't pristine. At the end of the hallway, the space opened up to a staircase in which the walls slowly opened outward toward the bottom.

The entire scene looked more like an illusion that messed with his eyes. Jack rubbed them and nearly tripped down the stairs. But when he looked up, he noticed that he was, in fact, in an old rustic tavern. The bar with leather stools lined the left side of the room in an L-shape, curving further to the left of the stairs with a door going somewhere else. Possibly the kitchen or backroom; Jack didn't fully understand places like these. He'd never been in one, but he'd seen them in old movies he'd watched through some kids' windows. Nevertheless, the real thing was far more... intimate for Jack. This was merely so because it seemed to be built much like the houses that Old Burgess had been made of, so long ago. Yet it was intimate because Jack remembered Verity's father often traveling down to the local brewery, or even Verity herself when she had been running errands for him instead. The memories of Cinder's past life bore down on Jack and he shook his head to get it clear. It almost looked like they were in an old barn, wooden beams and pillars lacing the place with a rural sense. The tables were scattered around the open floor and booths lined the sides. On the opposite side of the room there was a small stage with a decrepit piano collecting dust in the back corner.

But littered among these tables were people, and all of them were looking at him. Some faces were wary and others were stern, but most were neutral. Nonetheless, Jack felt a shiver prickle down his spine. That hadn't happened in awhile and it was probably easily visible due to his lack of clothing. At least he had his pants. The faces around him seemed familiar. Who were these guys... and girls? He couldn't recognize any of them despite the familiarity. And yet, they could all see him. Were they indeed all spirits? There was a powerful feeling welling up inside him that told him these people did not have happy stories either. Jack averted his eyes as he followed the Leprechaun over to the farthest corner of the bar. It was a little darker than most spots, but for some reason that didn't bother Jack. If anything, he could see a little better here. That should have worried him, but there were other matters on his mind. Jack felt vaguely self-conscious as he sat upon the leather stool and leaned back─ his bare back instantly chilled the material and small frost patterns fluttered through it. He'd never really been shirtless for that long, even when he was human. It was all of the traditional values that tugged at the back of his mind, but he had to remind himself he wasn't in Burgess anymore.

"So, you said this place was an... inn of sorts?" Jack half-whispered, concerned that people may be listening.

"Aye," Patrick hopped up onto the bar─ he still wasn't eye level with Jack─ and walked over to some taps, "Amaranthine Inn and Tavern for Spirits and Immortals. But we all knoow it as Amaranthine. Means 'unfading' an' 'everlasting,' or havin' a purplish-red color, if that be yoor fancy."

Jack narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. An inn for immortals? As far as he knew, the other Guardians had never mentioned coming here before. Perhaps they hadn't; this place didn't seem to be their type. Patrick had also said that Guardians weren't welcome here. Why would Cinder have tried to send him here? It was underneath New Vegas, where she had lived before, and that was understandable to an extent. But to send him where Lykos also was? Did she think he could help Jack in some way? It seemed unlikely that Cinder would have ever wanted that. The emotions that had washed over him when he'd seen what Lykos had done to her were enough to make frost line the edge of the bar where he realized his hands had been gripping until his knuckles were white. "And Cinder knew this place?"

The man was busy pouring some liquor out for a customer who had come up to the counter. The new person was wearing some sort of blue and red jester outfit and had dark blue eyes. His appearance told Jack he was somewhere in his thirties, but it was hard to tell. The man glanced Jack once over and with a twitch of his lip, took his drink without wavering his gaze and left. Jack felt the hair on his neck prickle but he chose to ignore it and look back to Patrick, who was handing him a glass of clear liquid. Jack raised an eyebrow dubiously.

"It be water, Lad. Doon' be foolish, like Laughton o'er there. April Fools is 'is domain. He juss lookin' fer a way to trick yoo. But Aye'd reckoon yoo'd understand. We've 'eard plenty 'aboot the winter trickster yoo be claimin'. He's noot excited aboot the competition, heh," the Leprechaun scoffed lightheartedly. "As fer Cinder, 'coourse she knew this place. Lucas broought her 'ere when he'd met 'er. Lucas is a dear boy t'me, Laddie. When 'e toold me aboot a lass oo coould use fyre an' burned whole cities, Aye'll admit Aye'd been moore hesitant. As Aye'm sure yoo were when yoo met 'er. Special Lass, she is."

Jack wanted to agree, but he knew he had mistaken Cinder at first. How could he have not realized it sooner? She had literally set his arm on fire and he had refused to think she was anything more than human. In all fairness, she _had_ just been human all along, but it didn't matter. Jack hadn't truly known Cinder. If he had, he doubted this situation would have ever come to happen.

"I only knew her for a week or so," Jack admitted bitterly. It was true. He'd met her, he'd fought with her, and then she'd left. That was pretty much the gist of their encounters, aside from brief moments of fluttering butterflies in his stomach. He didn't dwell on those, however, and stuck to his current situation. Because, more importantly, this Amaranthine place hadn't been in Cinder's memories confused Jack greatly. He'd seen the extent of the four years of Vegas, and there had been nothing more than an alcohol-trashed apartment and dark nightclubs. There was never an old western bar under the ground. Not once. But he couldn't just ask Patrick about this without getting into details about why he'd been in Cinder's memories. The entire story was a mess, really, and it was a difficult thing to think through at the moment. He took a sip of the water in front of him and his mind was instantly a little clearer.

"Aye," Patrick agreed, "she was oonly gone tha' loong. Aye'm moore interested in 'ow she came back so near to death's door, and why a Guardian was with 'er."

Jack bit his lip and looked away, pretending to take in the sights. It was a far more complicated story than he wanted to get into right now. And if they wanted information, he wanted a guarantee that Cinder was safe. Oddly enough, that was only going to come from the one man Jack wished he'd never have to meet.

And if she wasn't─ it didn't matter. Jack didn't owe these people any explanations. He had to get back to the Guardians and find a way to defeat Pitch once and for all. He had just hoped that she'd be there through it all with him...

* * *

Instead of minutes or even hours, it was months before Lykos showed his cowardly face. Around July, to be precise. Jack Frost was beyond angry, beyond pissed off, that this man had the guts to do what he pleased while Jack was waiting to know if Cinder was even alive. Did this man have no feelings at all?

Jack had gotten used to living inside the bar, seeing as he refused to leave without Cinder and didn't know how he would get back to the North Pole without his staff, and he'd kept the room in which he'd woken up. To ease his boredom, Patrick had made him do cleaning and other tedious jobs, but it didn't work. Not for someone like Jack Frost. Instead, he'd used his time to wisely invest in a prank war between himself and the immortal named Laughton, or April Fools. After April had ended, the man had come back more often than not aside from one or two major pranks in the world that he felt needed an extra boost. A few silly gags back and forth and Laughton had begun to open up. He'd mentioned how he was fairly upset that Jack took away many of his jobs, most especially during the winter. But, as Laughton had said after dropping a bucket of water onto Jack Frost (which instantly froze on him and made it very hard to walk around), that was normal Guardian behavior. Jack, in turn, tried to make him take the words back angrily at first, but then jokingly as he made the Fool slip on some ice on his way out the door. It was the only way one could talk with the man, and Jack had found it. Many were surprised, and partially glad, that someone could keep Laughton occupied as long as Jack did. That didn't mean that they liked the new addition that Patrick had adopted, but they were given credit for not killing him on sight.

The boy still desired, every day, to see North and Tooth and Bunny and Sandy again. He wasn't sure what they were doing about his disappearance, but none of them could be taking it well. Jack even doubted that Bunny was all hoppity and joyful about Jack being gone. He wondered if they knew anything about Cinder, either. Jack hadn't seen Bunny or Tooth since before he'd gone into the memory retrieval and he missed them immensely. If he could only fly─ and not die in the tragic heat that was this forsaken desert─ then he would be with them in a heartbeat.

But if Cinder was alive, Jack had to know. He would whisk her away with him and they could solve the rest of this gigantic problem together. Besides, Sophie must miss her. And Jamie must miss him, Jack realized in a bout of depression. Those children reminded Jack so much of his little sister. Then those memories morphed into Cinder's, and the cycle revisited itself. It was on one of these cycles as he was finishing cleaning up the bar that steps were heard traveling down the stairs. Jack plopped the wet rag back into the yellow bucket and looked over to where Patrick was shining some clean glasses for the next day. Who would be coming from upstairs? As far as Jack had known, he and the Leprechaun were the only ones living up there. But apparently, he was wrong. Jack turned on his heels a little further and somewhere in the back of his consciousness he knew that the bucket had fallen over and that Patrick was yelling at him and that there was nothing he could do about it because in front of him─ right in front of him─ was simultaneously who he hated to see and who he was beyond exceedingly gladly _amazingly _ecstatic to see.

Lykos...

And Cinder.

* * *

**Song for Inspiration:**

Dream by Imagine Dragons (From the mood of the song to the lyrics, I think this fits Jack's circumstances near perfectly. I might be using this song a chapter too early, but it certainly helped me move things along.)

* * *

**A/N: Off to a great start with an infuriating cliffhanger! I must say, I rather enjoy being evil. Oh, but what's to happen will probably have all you guys wanting to strangle my neck. Hmm... maybe I should tone it down? **

**Nah! :)**

**Fun Fact: **_**Amaranthine**_** is from the late 1600s, but it's also the name of a city in the video game **_**Dragon Age: Origins**_** and a planet in **_**Mass Effect**_**, and the name of the 2005 **_**Enya**_** album. The place in this story doesn't really have anything to do with these, but I remembered the word from all of these things, so I thought I'd use it, too. Was it a good choice?**

**Have a great day/night! :)**


	38. Announcement

**Hello my lovely readers!**

**Unfortunately, this isn't a chapter. I realized a few days too late that I updated this story with the first chapter to **_**A Change of Fates**_** a week earlier than I planned. I had **_**meant**_** to update the story with this message:**

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

You know how I said to give me a week or two to start on the sequel? Well, I might need a little longer. *dodges sticks, stones, and rotten tomatoes* _I'm sorry! _I have the sequel planned out and everything, but all of my other stories are suffering. Some of them haven't had updates in two months! Granted, some of that is due to writer's block, but it's also because I put a lot of focus into this one. Trying to juggle four stories at once was probably a mistake on my part, haha, but I couldn't help it. When I have a good idea, I run with it. Then I tried running in all these different directions on top of work and my university thesis defense (which I have to start on a year early) aaaaaaaaannnd yeah, I think you get it.

For those of you following more than just this story, you can rejoice! The others will get their updates soon! Hopefully!

_As We Lay To Rest_ just needs the last two chapters and it's finished. (Unless people want a sequel, but that will have to wait until these get under way.)

_Granting Asylum _will get top priority.

_The Things No One Knows_ will get its update immediately after (mainly because I think this is my favorite RotG-only AU and I haven't seen many people─ or any, for that matter─ write it without it being a crossover).

So, I'll say it again, I'm super amazingly sorry that _A Change of Fates _has to go on a preemptive hiatus. It shouldn't last more than two weeks, honestly. This message chapter will be replaced with the real first chapter and we'll get back on track!

See you all soon! :)

* * *

**Yeeeaaaahhh... oops. Well, I'm not going to just delete the first **_**A Change of Fates**_** chapter, so I guess the hiatus begins before the second chapter instead. I know that's sort of an awful thing to do, but I think it has to be done. I'm sorry for the worst place to drop off the story momentarily. I'll still ask that you guys give me about two weeks, but I'll try and do things a little faster.**

**Thank you so much!**

**Have a great day/night and see you all soon! :)**


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